Oh freshman year, it goes by so fast. Nothing beats the first day of college. The beaming smiles on parents faces of how proud they are mixed with the tears that the mothers shed because they are so proud of their children moving on, but they also don’t want their babies to leave the nest. Even dads tear up a bit at the thought of their little girl or charming son being away from home, but the only thing on your mind is making new friends, how scary your classes are and what your living situation is going to be like. Yet, when it's your freshman year and you are looking at Chrysostom, or "C Block" known by everyone else, all that joy and excitement for a moment is stripped away at the thought of communal bathrooms, small living quarters with only one person instead of three and no air conditioning. With C Block being an old-time-looking prison, it magically turns into a home as the year goes on. Trust me, even I was pleasantly surprised. Freshman year in Chrysostom was not only a learning experience, but I gained so many friendships and opportunities I would have never had if I decided to move to another residence hall.
Once you move in, Chrysostom is a weird place. It is just a bunch of freshman in one building not having a clue where to get started. Once your parents leave, in your head there’s an internal scream saying “freedom,” but you are also a little sad because you are actually for once on your own. You are left there by yourself and immediately try to start making friends without seeming too desperate. Listen to me, do not panic! Everyone wants to make friends because you all have none here yet other than the ones you met online; so be yourself, spark a conversation and you’ll be on your way. I know Chrysostom is not the most aesthetically pleasing place as you look around, other than the eloquent study room on the bottom floor, but once you start making friends things begin to look up. The place will have its own sense of homeliness. Once you are done being pissed off at the fact that you have no air conditioning of course. You’ll find that everyone hangs out in the common room to stay cool in the warmer months and you start meeting new people and making friends there. You slowly find that your RAs are not quite like any other because they are more willing and eager to help you out. Chrysostom RAs are always really amazing with lots of personality also. Becoming friends with some of them is a great choice because RAs are not only there to help you out when you need to know where to go for a problem, but also they’re upperclassmen so they can give really great advice on school, nightlife, career goals and plenty of other life advice. With getting to know people in your building, then the weekend adventures begin almost immediately because you are all anxious and eager to explore the city, and since it never sleeps, neither do you. Once classes begin, studying seems easy because there are so many people with different majors that you’ll know someone’s good at math even if you aren’t. The group study sessions are fun because you are either working hard or hardly working, and you all complain in the morning together after all-nighters in the library. The feeling of community flutters in as you all begin to support each others' big things and small and then you start to realize that living here isn’t so bad after all.
The reason why Chrysostom residents are closer than other resident hall is because they genuinely act like a family. Doors are always open quite literally in that fashion because everyone welcomes the idea of trying something new. It is a new experience for all the residents there and you will all build a beautiful experience together. I remember the countless study group sessions, movie nights, talks with RAs, sing-a-longs, weekend explorations and just trips to Locke's and how it created a community within a larger community. We still carry that community with us as we continue our years here at Manhattan College. I just ran into a bunch of "C Blockers" the other day and we were all talking about our semester like we were back in that common room. Chrysostom was where it all started and “C Block” is forever a little piece of home.
