Written by Shamira James
Welcome back everyone! We’re picking back up with the working hard, partying harder and napping the hardest, but more importantly, we’re back to the grub! I’m a second semester senior (which is so painful to say) and through my years of being an RC Maroon, I’ve learned to have preferences I’m just not willing to compromise. Like how I wanted to be RA on south side because of the view of the sunset, or even if I’m doing homework in an academic hall I have to be in Trexler because it’s not too creepy and the lighting keeps me awake. But my biggest and probably most controversial preference that I will never EVER change is my preference to sit in the back room.
My friends who sit in the front room, let’s call them “front-roomies,” always roll their eyes and ask why we sit back here where it’s colder, a little darker, a lot of people and noticeably bigger than the other rooms – but those are the exact reasons why I like it.
Not to be that person, but I have a lot of friends (I’ll say it so you don’t have to, weird flex but ok) and I want to make sure I get to talk to everyone, or at least get to say hi. If I was in the front room, I’d see them come in but they wouldn’t see me and then I’d never get to say anything to them.
The front-roomies are also quick to mention that it’s not as bright and/or warm. Maybe in my old age of 22, my eyes can’t handle all the light. The few times I’ve graced that space with my presence, I spent the entire time squinting because it was so damn bright. Also, as someone who spends a lot of time looking at homes I’ll never be able to afford, I know high ceilings are a crowd favorite and why not? They allow for space! You front-roomies are packed in there like sardines while us back – roomies, have at least the illusion of space.
Mostly, I like to sit back there because I’ve sat back there my entire RC career and built memories. Like during freshman year when my friends and I sat in the middle of the lacrosse team but only knowing that after we had sweaty larger men on either side of us and sat uncomfortably the entire time. Or when me and my friends decided to sings songs at the top of our lungs and ended up on five different people’s Snapchat stories without knowing. The memories that I’ve made in that room are the ones that I’m going to hold on to for a long time.
People often look to the bigger ways in which this institution gave them the best four years of their life. But for me, RC has made my life incredible through all the little things, and I’m truly grateful. I do have a few more stories but quite frankly, you just had to be there. Choose your seats wisely, Maroons.
