This was the first year I lived on campus and it was nothing like I had expected. I completed my two-year degree in one year at my local community college, FingerLakes Community College (Go Lakers!) commuting the five minutes from home. A couple times I had gone over to the suites to bake cakes for CAB or to walk with someone while they grabbed their phone chargers or switch notebooks and boy their suites seemed wicked cool. There were four rooms, two bathrooms, one (maybe two) hall closets, a small kitchen and a living room. Coming from high school and living at home I thought it was the neatest thing I had ever seen. Four girls got their own apartments and could do whatever they wanted WITH THEIR OWN KITCHENS!!!

During my time at FLCC I also had a friend who lived in an apartment about fifteen minutes away with two of her friends. We hung out there once a week and that's when I started thinking about living together with my best friends by ourselves. At this point, I wasn't aware I was going to be finished within the year and it was just daydreams.

And then came my time to live away from home. I transferred into Nazareth College with junior status and into my first single. I share a bathroom with a total sweetheart that attaches our rooms in a lonely hallway with four rooms (including ours). I packed all my things in the car (with lots of help from my mom) and we were off. Several current students of Nazareth College were ready to help us unload and move everything into my room. Lo and behold, my room was not on any of the posted floor plans. What? Luckily there was a student who knew the building pretty well and brought us to a secluded hallway right across the kitchen. The hallway consists of all singles (for non-freshman) each with its own bathroom.

I have several siblings and two dogs at home so I'm used to a fair amount of commotion. However, there was no commotion at all in my hallway. It's isolated from the rest of the building and very few people know of its existence. I was going crazy. Sure I had a fun and decorated room, but there were no people. Not at all what I expected for dorm living.

Despite the absolute silence of the hall, I did my best to lighten it up with music, movies and flute practicing. I was somewhat successful but still missed human interaction and started to go out of my mind. That first semester was difficult. Then I realized what a blessing it was to have a quiet area to sleep, study and live in because those are rare to find on a college campus.

I'm leaving my room for good later this week to go home for summer break and as I am slowly sending my items home, I am realizing just how much I'm going to miss my exceedingly warm hallway (in which I often refer to as a sauna), my sweet sweet hallmates (a swimmer who I draw Pokémon on his whiteboard, my suitemate that has had several serious health complications, and the various hallmates who rotated in and out of the fourth room), and a place where I can call all mine.

Goodbye Kearney 175. It's been real.