The Connecticut College campus generally falls into two areas: north and south. The Charles E. Shain Library is in the middle. Last spring, as I began contemplating where I wanted to live on campus my senior year, I thought about the fact that I never lived in south campus. So during the housing lottery, I picked a room in Jane Addams (JA) House, the second southernmost residence house on campus. Since moving in I’ve noticed a lot of differences between north and south campus. South campus is close to many of the academic buildings, which helps if you are like me and are running late most of the time. It is also home to Tempel Green, as well as the dining halls in Jane Addams and Freeman House. I am not a morning person so having two dining halls close by makes getting breakfast, which is usually a struggle for me, much easier.

All of these things have made my first few weeks living in south campus amazing. However, there are a few changes I’ve had to adjust to. Harris Refectory, the main dining hall on campus, is the northernmost dining hall and the only one open on weekends. I used to watch people drive from JA to Harris and think that it was crazy. It is only a 10-minute walk. But I get why people do it now. Walking it in the heat is pretty brutal. Speaking of heat... north campus is home to the newer residence houses on campus that are equipped with air conditioning. The buildings in south campus are more historic and don’t have this luxury. The first few weeks of school were unseasonably warm so students living in south like me went out in search of newer places to study and cool off on campus. Greer Music Library was a popular location that week. Greer is located in the basement of Cummings Art Center, which is right across the green from me. In my first three years living at Conn, I rarely visited the music library because I always lived far away in north campus and Shain Library, the College’s main library, was closer to me. The music library is a great spot to study and since more students are drawn to Shain’s wider variety of study materials it’s not very busy which helps me focus and avoid distractions from friends or people going in and out.

Living in south campus has somewhat changed how I go about my life on campus. I find that I no longer go to Harris very often and even prefer the smaller JA dining hall now. I find that I tend to stay more on the south side of campus now than I ever used to. While there are advantages and disadvantages of both places I enjoy the more relaxed nature and smaller dining halls of south more than I thought I ever would.