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RACHEL ULLRICH
AT HAST MY ROBOCROUCH POSTER IS UP
My life
as a 20-
year-old
tenant
As far as the housing draw has
gone. I've been pretty lucky.
Craige-North my freshman
year, Connor for sophomore.
Thank a persistent case of asth
ma and a doctor’s note, I guess.
But I w as still thrilled to head
off campus and out into the great
unknown of downtown living...
in a duplex, no less.
“DUPLEX," as both my unit
and my room mates and I forever
more would be called (and yes. you
must read that, as we say it, with a
capital-worthy emphasis), would
be open and ready by the time I
got to Chapel Hill last August.
And it w as just as great as I
imagined it for the first few weeks.
I bought far more paint that
ever would be necessary, (half-)
unpacked all my bags and moved
everything I own from the storage
unit where it sat all summer.
My roommate and I hosted grill
outs even weekend, watched far
too many marathons of Degrassi
and Sex and the City and even after
a few weeks found out what it was
like to have cable again.
I had a whole refrigerator
to share with only one person
which meant as much ice cream
and Bagel Bites in the freezer as my
body could handle —, and my laun
dry didn’t cost $5 a load anymore.
Ah, yes. Life in a duplex is great.
Until it turns add and you real
ize the walk to Carroll Hall no lon
ger is five minutes it’s about 15.
Or until you realize that by the
time you've walked to the gym
you feel like your workout should
already be finished.
The kicker, of course, always
will be when the moving-in food
your mom bought you runs out
and you have to go buy groceries
for the first time.
You should have seen me in
front of the deli counter. It was a
shambles.
That paint 1 bought is still sit
ting on my floor, and my dad finally
hung up my framed posters when
he came to visit last weekend.
Of course. I’m not sure I'm even
ready to relive those months in
November (Remember November?
When it was obscenely cold?) when
my roommate and 1 had no heat.
We couldn’t get our gas turned
on. and so every night was spent
in two sweat shirts, three pairs of
sweat pants and about Hi blankets.
I had to get a rug to put on my
bedroom floor just so I didn't have
to put my feet on the hardwood.
Imagine a month without heat.
It’s terrible. So we were thrilled
when the heat man was coming
one morning to fix it
So thrilled that 1 got in the
shower and missed him, and my
roommate stayed asleep.
The next week when he was
coming back. I set six alarms and
slept on our den’s futon so as to be
sure 1 woke up. I also put a sign
on our front stoop that said “We
are home! But asleep. Don’t leave
please. Call this number."
And of course, turning on the
gas meant starting the gas bill. On
top of the water bill. And the ener
gy bill. And the cable bill. Forgot
about those when 1 thought about
how cheap the rent would be, too.
Then there’s cleaning the bath
room you take that for granted
way too much in a dorm. And the
first time 1 had to Drano my sink I
didn't know what to do.
So, life in a duplex isn't the
weekly trips to brunch, parties
every weekend, constant movie
fest 1 thought it would be.
But it is free parking. It is
cheap(er) laundry and better food
keeping (pantries are just fantastic).
And it Ls the chance to run across
the hall or next door to make your
friend sing karaoke at 2 a.m.
It is a TIVo to tape the Australian
Open at 3:30 a.m. —and no room
mate to tell you she's studying in
your room so you can’t watch it
It’s the decision to hang music
notes in your living room and give
your hallway a football theme
complete with signage and lights.
That's gotta be worth going
cold every other week to save
money. Right?
Contact Rachel Ullrich
at rullrich@emaiLunc.edu.
South Campus pivotal aspect of freshman year
BY ANITA RAO
STAfF WRITER
Ten-pound backpack in tow and
racing through the quad to find
your Chem 101 lab, you are so busy
staring at your campus map that
you trip on the uneven bricks and
faceplant in front of an intimidat
ing Pit preacher freshman year
has officially begun.
“It’s the embarrassing, klutzy
things, like not knowing where
buildings are, and accidentally
dropping my heavy book bag that
remind me I'm a freshman," fresh
man Cara Peterson said.
Many of these stereotypical “fresh
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Freshman Ryan Houston searches the near-empty shelves of the UNC Student Stores on Aug. 24,2007.
Houston decided to purchase all of his books through Student Stores but planned to do it online next time.
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DTH Housing Guide
man moments" at UNC have stayed
the same during the past four years.
“Everything to do with South
Campus really makes up freshman
year,” senior Shepard Daniel said.
“The 30-minute walk to get any
where, eating in the dining halls
and rides on the P2P."
While the uphill trek from
Hinton James Residence Hall to
an 8 a.m. class in Hanes Art Center
can be horrific, many freshmen
enjoy the South Campus feel.
“You are really able to get to know
people well because it is easy to
spend time with them." said fresh
man Chris dayman, who lives in
Ehringhaus South Residence Hall.
In the last two years, South
Campus has become even more like
its own community, dayman said,
with additions of the Rams Head
Dining Hall and workout facilities.
But the jukebox jams of Rams
Head Dining Hall have not always
been a freshman year memory.
For seniors, the only South
Campus dining option in their first
year was Chase Dining Hall.
“Breakfast and Sunday lunches
at Chase were legendary," senior
Richard Johanson said. “But, you
always had to have your ‘Chase
clothes' ready, because no matter
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2008
“South Campus really makes up freshman
year. The 30-minute walk to get anywhere
... and rides on the P2P.”
SHEPARD DANIEL, UNC SENIOR
what, you would come out smelling
like Chase, and until you changed
people would say, ‘You went to
Chase, didn't you?”
And with changes in basketball
ticket distribution, seniors say cur
rent freshmen have it much easier.
While freshman Hogan Medlin
said he felt young when he received
an e-mail notifying him of his Duke
basketball ticket rejection, current
seniors had to line up outside of
Kenan Stadium for a chance at
tickets to any home basketball
game their freshman year.
But it is the wild, expansive free
dom of living alone that helped
define freshman year for senior
Allison Rose.
pf /' j
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“Labor Day weekend my fresh
man year, my friends and I played
four square in the Pit at three in the
morning," Rose said. “Freshmen
really take advantage of college
being the time to do crazy things."
Because the lack of pressure to
declare a major quickly dwindles
away. Rose said to be sure to take
advantage of UNCs opportunities
“The best thing is that there Ls a
four-year adventure lying in front of
you,” she said. “You have four years
to fill your experience with whatever
classes, extracurriculars. fiiendshqw
and experiences you want."
Contact the Features Editor
at features@unc.edu.
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