As freshmen in college, living in a dorm room is part of the overall excitement of going to college. At Virginia Tech, first year students are required to live on campus for at least the first year. Many people come from all over the world. The first-year dorms give freshman students a sense of community the first day they arrive on campus. In a sense, these dorms offer a social safety net. Vawter hall is one of the oldest residence halls on Virginia Tech’s campus. This traditional-style residence hall has long, bland hallways with rows of doors and an absence of hidden crevasses. Each person that steps out of their room sees two or three more doors without any extra effort. A simple walk to the restroom at the end of the hall is more than enough time to see at least three hall mates. The movement is never ending during the daytime. Each of the girls has their own class schedule, clubs to attend and study habits; Vawter is the place where people come to sleep, but choose to interact and serve a social community. The girls on the second floor of Vawter have given color to an otherwise bland place with long hallways of white painted cinder block walls. Living in Vawter is a requirement but these girls in rooms 202 -213 have made dorm life more comfortable by decorating and creating social relationships within the dorm, along with doing special things that enhance their own dorm experience.
Vawter is an awkwardly shaped building on Kent St. across from the University Bookstore. Vawter is very close to Newman Library, Squires Student Center and Downtown Blacksburg. Many of the girls mention that they enjoy the location Though far from West-End and Lane Stadium, it is still very convenient. Formally an all male dorm, urinals are still present in the “Women’s” restroom. The restroom is a great conversation starter for strangers meeting for the first time during move-in-week. This unique feature sparked conversations amongst the girls relaying their uncomfortable feelings toward the urinals and “Zoey 101” references about how they could improve their circumstance.
Some of the girls say that because of the set up of Vawter is a little awkward and can sometimes get little loud. We all admit that some people are more considerate than others. Since Vawter is a traditional style dorm and not separated into suites, noise is easily heard from the hallway. Many girls leave their doors open and yell to another room at any given moment. The smallest noises can be heard from the hallway such as air vents, the shuffling of feet from the second floor and the floor above, the toilets flushing from the restroom down the hall, and the opening and closing of doors. These noises are rarely ever acknowledged. The noise levels seem to increase later in the day when everyone is coming back from classes and finishing homework. By the end of the night, when “quiet hours” begin at 11pm, the noise levels ironically seem to be higher. Girls are usually walking between rooms, conversing, playing music and groups of people are hanging out in a single room. The noise levels during “quiet hours” have slightly decreased because the second floor received an email from the RA stating warnings will no longer be given, “CRs” will be given instead. There is more tension in the air now. Some of the girls have started closing their doors, cautiously walking through the halls, and more “gossipy” chatter fills the hallway as the RA walks down the hall in a pleading effort to fulfill the hall tradition of “cookie Mondays”. For weeks, the joke of the hall has been “ be quiet, it’s quiet hours”.
Some girls think the noise is the worst part of living in a dorm but they must tolerate it, especially since they cannot close their doors because of temperature control. Vawter is one of the oldest dorms on campus, therefore Vawter does not have air conditioning and the heating system is slightly old fashioned. Many people keep their windows open during the winter and sometimes it’s questioned whether the resident doors are open due to the poor air circulation or because they just want to be social.
Although the heating in Vawter is out of the residents’ control, the unique décor of each door and interior is fully up to the individual – as long as the décor follows safety codes. Many people have different methods to make their dorm experience more comfortable for them since they have to experience it for at least one year. The girls’ hallway is bland and seems like an endless display of white walls and squeaky clean, white floors. There are only five decorated doors. The girls in 206 use their dry erase board for jokes, which they change every couple of days. As of right now the joke board reads ,“ How do you drown a hipster – ‘in the mainstream’”. In addition to dry erase boards, room 211 is still celebrating Christmas, with a burgundy stocking hung on the door along with a red and green wreath around the peephole. By contrast, room 203 on the opposite end of the hall has “ Be my Valentine” in jelly letters on their door. Many of the residents seem to express their individually to make them feel more comfortable, and to make Vawter feel more like home.
Decorating doors isn’t as nearly important as decorating the interior of the dorm rooms. Decorating the interior of the dorms make the inhabitants more comfortable. The girls brought chairs, rugs and things that reminded them of home. Passing through the hall, most of the rooms are filled with colorful bedspreads and carpet to keep their feet from touching the cold tile floor. Other than the décor of the rooms, the girls also did simple things to make themselves more comfortable in the dorm life. Sometimes the girls are purely content with leaving their doors open, singing in the shower, making their room smell nice.
Most of these girls have come to Virginia Tech not knowing a single soul who walk the halls of their academic home, however by the urge and expectation of making new friends, these girls have transformed Vawter into a social community to make themselves more comfortable. The hall is never without giggles and a variety of smiles – even just in passing. At least once a night a week, the girls exploit their shared television interest and make the night a small celebration. Around dinnertime, a group of girls usually walk in with bags and to-go containers from “ABP”, “Owens”, or “Hokie Grill” – the closest dining halls to Vawter. Many of the girls get food in groups and bring it back to the dorm. Oddly enough, the groups have not changed drastically since move-in-week .The colder it gets and the busier the year gets, many believe it’s easier to go get something and eat it in the dorm. However, craving company, many wait for their friends to dine together. On any given day, girls leave move in and out of each others rooms, hang out in door ways, ask questions, and “ just chill”. Throughout the day, girls carry their laptops from one room to the other saying phrases such as “help, I have a ‘bio’ test tomorrow”. It is completely normal for people to be doing homework in the hallway, making a conscious effort not to disturb their roommates studying in the nearby rooms. The hall has a very close dynamic. Most of the time when there’s movement, there are usually two or more people involved. More and more, the girls seem to appreciate their hallmates.
Although the majority of this hall’s residents are very close there are some that are not as close to the rest of the hall, but still everyone is social. The bay window at the end of the hallway is the hall’s main socializing point. People use it to sit and do homework, or take their phone call out of their rooms. This window has heard all the hall gossip, fraternity boys accepting bids, and calls home at 1am because college is a stressful place. However, late in the night, the remainders of the people sit on the windowsill and talk until they slowing decrease in number. In addition, there is usually a boy in the windowsill typing his paper. This boy gives a male presence to a hall of female residents. He has made himself at home, checking in on all of the girls’ everyday, asking about their day and their week ahead. He occasionally brings cookies and jokes to the hallway. Also, once a week he gathers some guys from the boys’ floor to take out all of the trash and recyclables of all the girls in our hallway. Seeing a girl from the second floor of Vawter hall take out her own trash is a rare occurrence.
The girls in Vatwer rooms 202-213 have made a required living space their home for an entire school year. The girls have decorated their doors and dorm rooms with items that reflect their personalities, interests, and memories from back home. They have made friends to help them feel more comfortable in a foreign place and these friends are present when a study break is necessary and to accompany each other on a quick dinner run. Even the girls, who are not as close in hall, still speak and try to be helpful. The boy is there for smiles. He makes the classic academic routine seem less strict and provides a favorable presence. These girls bounce their beliefs and personalities off each other and the colorless walls of Vawter, a place that is temporary but will be remembered through all of their college years. At the end of the night, all lights are off and doors shut but someone still remains at the window reading and looking out because it’s late and they can’t sleep.