I like to do this thing in my mind where I expect the worse, so that I am never disappointed. When I saw that I was living in a triple in McKay Hall on the communal side freshman year, I did not get mad and panic, like most people. Instead, I just expected the worst.
So, yes, the rooms are tiny. I do not even have enough space for my desk. I had to put it under my bed and can never really use it. And, yes, the showers are even tinier and disgusting. The first night I took a shower, I took a step back, fell out of the shower and onto my ass. Luckily, I was too embarrassed to be in the shower with other people on the first night, so this happened at two in the morning when no one else was there. But, honestly, the good times I have had in McKay are much more memorable than the bad.
I came to The University of Tampa without knowing anyone. I had talked to my roommates on Facebook a few times, but besides that, I was alone. Luckily for me, almost every single person left their doors open for the first few weeks. If I walked by an open door, someone would say “hi” to me. In fact, one of the first nights of school I was walking by a room when these four girls invited me to go out with them. Their names are Erin, Sam, Marbella, and Marisa and they are the best literal next-door neighbors I could ever ask for.
Another down side that turned out okay were the walls. The walls of McKay look like prison walls with layers and layers of dirty, white paint over cinderblock and mold. But whenever I want Erin to come into my room, all I have to do is hit the wall with my hand a few times and she comes running. It is like a little girl’s dream come true: I get to live with my best friend right on the other side of a wall.
The view is the second thing I will miss the most. (The first being living next to Erin. I would say I am going to miss living next to Marisa, but we are roommates next year, so I will be sick of her more than I will miss her.) McKay Hall sits right on the river overlooking the city of Tampa. I honestly do not know a location on campus that is any better. I go outside to do homework, write, read and even tan if the pool is closed, but the sun is still out.
The community showers and I had a rough start, but I have grown to kind of like them a little. Whenever Erin, Marisa, and I need to shower after the gym or after work, we bring in our phones and a speaker and blast The Summer Hits of the 90’s and 2000’s Pandora Station. I might get a few complaints that my singing is too loud, but I have my best friends singing just as loud in a shower over, so it makes it all okay.
So, although McKay Hall is feared by most, it will be very missed by me.
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