Thurston Hall, home to 1,116 students each year, is the largest freshman dorm at The George Washington University. Before moving in, you may have been warned of Thurston's reputation by older students, claiming it is notorious for its trashed hallways, loud pre-games, and promiscuity -- hence the nicknames “Thirsty Thurston” and “Thrusting Thurston.” While these rumors are often true, Thurston Hall is really more what you make of it than anything else. Think of it like a city: it can be loud and dirty at times, but it also has character and so much to offer. There are just as many ways to avoid the craziness as there are to embrace it. So without further ado, here’s a guide to help you through your first college dorm.
Quads
When it comes to Thurston, GW has a tendency to stick beds in places they don’t belong in order to fit more students into the room. Quads are usually the worst with this. In almost every quad (which are really meant to be triples), there will be a bed shoved in front of shelves or blocking the closet doors. As much as you want your precious wall space to decorate with hundreds of pictures from home, bunking just one pair of beds is truly worth the sacrifice. And by the middle of the year, most of your fellow quad friends will have come to this realization and will make their rooms much more spacious...and I guarantee you will be low-key jealous.
Making Friends
I like to think of Thurston as having two types of residents: residents who leave their door unlocked/open while they are in their room, and residents who leave it locked/closed at all times. If you are looking to socialize with your floor and make potential friends, leaving your door open is the easiest way to do so. I guarantee by your first week of school, one night while you are getting ready to go out or go to bed, a couple of your drunk neighbors will pop in to say hi, overly friendly and excited to know everything about you. Be friendly back, because they are most likely genuine and will introduce you to more people.
Thurston aside for a moment, those first few months are a great time to meet as many people as possible. You will be surprised by how many friends you will make by stepping out of your comfort zone and hanging out with people you usually wouldn't, or by attending events you don't particularly have interest in. My first week of school, I met two of my best friends on my way back from getting coffee with someone who I didn’t totally click with and actually almost flaked on! Try to say yes to every event and invitation you get in the beginning, because it all has the potential to lead to amazing people and opportunities.
Get To Know Your Roommates
If you chose to request your roommate(s), then I am sure you are already on top of this. For those of you who went random, you may be shocked by the outcome. While there are plenty of people who decide to go random and get stuck with crazy or strange roommates, there are also many randomly selected roommates who end up being perfect for each other and even become best friends. Make an effort to get to know your roommates that first week, because they may surprise you.
Be A Good Roommate
We’re talking about a dorm where rooms of six people are common. You are no longer in your mansion in Beverly Hills or your cozy bedroom in the suburbs. While sharing space in doubles is pretty easy, triples through sixes require effort. Remember to keep your mess in your own area and clean up after yourself in the bathroom. Don’t borrow anything of your roommates without asking (unless they have told you it is fine not to ask), and divide the chores evenly. Share whatever you can with your roommates, and they will most likely be equally as generous in return. Have a discussion early on about things such as studying in the room, inviting friends over, sleeping schedules and the like. Make sure you are all on the same page that first week, and if things start to change, have another discussion.
Be Prepared For Awful Odors And Trashed Hallways
Thurston Hall is very, very old. While you should be pleasantly surprised to find minimal roach and rodent problems for such an old building, the stuffy air and moldy bathrooms make up for it. Some people blame the stench on the neighbors who never take out their garbage, and others blame the kid who threw up in the stairwell that morning. Personally, I always blamed the half-eaten Chipotle burrito just chilling in the hallway for 3 days. Regardless of where the odor came from, just accept it and even laugh about it, because you will never get to live in such an entertaining building again.
Tolerate The Craziness
We all know it's not cool to be ridiculously loud at 2 a.m. on a Monday night. If that happens, find the source and shut them up. However, by the time Wednesday and Thursday roll around, you are going to have to accept the fact that your neighbors will be loud and drunk from wine nights and Opera. No, it isn’t the weekend yet, and yes, you do have a test tomorrow morning, but college kids will be college kids. Make a sleeping playlist on your phone to fall asleep to or buy some Z-quil to help. Don’t be that kid who ruins everyone's good time.
Embrace The Craziness
If you know you are going to want to have the flexibility to have fun with your friends Thursday - Saturday, see if you can rearrange your schedule a bit during syllabus week so that you have late or no classes on Friday. That way you can be the one providing the rest of your floor with FOMO.
Avoid The Craziness
Clearly you can see Thurston has character. However, if you are more concerned with studying, sleep, and relaxation than you are with befriending your neighbors or partying, that is okay, too. You don’t have to move to The Vern for that! I have had plenty of nights where I have just wanted time to myself, and I got it. You just have to learn the times and days that your neighbors and roommates are most active and work around that. If you are the kind of person who likes to study in your room, it will probably be easiest to get all of your work done Sunday-Wednesday during the day, when it is mostly quiet and people are too busy to barge into your room and interrupt your flow.
Swiping In
You will basically need your GWorld ID on you at all times while on campus. You will need it for the library, to pay for food, and to swipe into Thurston. It may be hard to remember at first, but eventually you won't leave your room without your GWorld. Keep it in your wallet or buy one of those $5 cardholders that stick on to cell phones. Whatever you do, DON'T be the kid wearing their GW
Additionally, when it comes to swiping in after a night out, Friday and Saturday nights there will often be UPD officers or DC cops in the lobby waiting to EMeRG anyone too drunk to swipe themselves in. Just remember to play it cool in front of them and don't make eye contact.
Utilize The Basement Kitchen
Class of 2019, you're in luck! You guys are the first class to get a full year with the Thurston basement kitchen. They installed that thing in the middle of second semester 2015, so it is brand new and not yet moldy for you guys! Hooray! It's not usually crowded, and it's great for baking and cooking real food during off hours of the day. You can also just study by it at night and watch drunk kids try to cook pasta.
Laundry Is Anyone's Game
Stay on top of your laundry, because more often than not, someone will take all of your stuff out of your machine the second it's done and throw it on top of a table so they can wash their own clothes. It's not even considered rude, for there are four machines for each floor of approximately 130 students. What else are they supposed to do when you're not there to take it out yourself?
