FAR-PAR.  This small, but important term was something very unfamiliar to me when receiving my housing for my freshman year.  I immediately went to check the University page to see where my dorm would be located.  I read that FAR would be my official home for the next year, all the way in Urbana. 

                Now, when looking at the map, it became very clear to me that the name FAR stood for more than just Florida Avenue Residence hall.  This dorm lives up to its clever abbreviation of a name because it really is, far away.  When first arriving to my “second home” on my first day as a college student, I watched as we drove father and farther away from all the happy freshman in their 6-pack dorms in the heart of campus. 

                The scenery on the way to FAR-PAR consists of a lovely cemetery to the right that runs along the whole road, while on the left there are boring brick buildings.  Needless to say, I was more than ready to turn around the car and head home.  This is not what I anticipated out of dorm life whatsoever.  Yes, everyone knows that dorms are small rooms with tiny closets, but nobody told me that I would be getting the dorm you have to hike to in order to get there.

                Although FAR-PAR’s negatives do outweigh the positives, there are still some advantages to living way out here. Late night. This term is a very important and special term because it relates to getting food.  This one big perk of living here allows students to eat after 8 when all the other dining halls have closed. The amount of pizza and stir-fry consumed at late night just this year is outrageous.  Especially when you have those nights where you consume too much “water” and really just feel like food is the cure, late night always pulls through for us all.  And for us here at FAR-PAR, we can simply stumble out our doors and be graced with the amazing smell of food that awaits us. When people from the 6-pack willingly come to Urbana to eat food, that is when you know your dorm life can’t be too bad.

                When asking my roommate Serena, about her first impression when coming to FAR-PAR she said, “I was just upset because FAR was so far from the main quad and other dorms. The fact that it was on the far side of Urbana was difficult adjusting to, as well.  The dorms aren’t as social as the others which was disappointing so it was harder to meet more people that live by you. But, now I’m getting used to it and getting accustomed to using the bus schedule which makes things easier.”

                While others have the convenience of going to back to their dorms between classes, or have the option to go to their dining hall for a quick lunch, we can’t do that.  Unless there is a 2 hour gap in your schedule, there is no way to have a time to relax during your day.  All you can do is post up at the Ike or library and hope that you have something to do to fill your time. 

                Although there are fewer perks to living at FAR-PAR, those few positives helped many students adjust to college living much faster than others.  We had to learn how to take a bus to the correct location within the first few days or else we would have missed all of our classes.  We have learned to walk 2 miles through the tundra weather whenever a Silver bus gets dropped from the bus schedule to get to class on time.  But most importantly, we have learned that sometimes, the food can outweigh the bad experiences and struggles that come along with living at FAR-PAR.