When I arrived at UC Berkeley, I never expected that I’d be living in a study lounge.Â
Prior to my freshman year of college, I waited months in anxious anticipation of my housing assignment. The days before the housing release passed in a blur — I scrolled through my Pinterest for aesthetic dorm inspiration, placed dorm essentials and decorations into my Amazon cart for Prime Day, and exchanged endless Instagram DMs from my future classmates regarding their room preferences.
When the moment came, I clicked into my housing portal and found that I was placed in Unit 2, but, instead of a double or even a triple, I was placed in a temporary quad. The refurbished student lounge-turned-dorm was a far cry from my dream dorm — four bunk beds, metal racks as closets, drawers, and a cafeteria-esque table with equally cafeteria-esque chairs. How could I ever feel at home in a room like that?
Before I knew it, move-in was a week away, and although I’d received and sent out several housing relocation emails, nothing had changed.Â
I received another email days later, but this time, it was from one of my three roommates.Â
“Hi,” the email said, “Nice to meet you, Hannah!”
My expectations were still low, though her short message left a small smile on my face.
When I met my second roommate during move-in day, she had a huge smile on her face, and her arms were full with clothes she was hanging on the metal racks. We started up a conversation right away as we sat down on the hard plastic chairs after organizing our bottom bunk beds. By the time our other roommates came around, we were mid-rant about our temporary dorm predicament, lamenting about the lack of essentials that we weren’t able to get — yet, only a small portion of my thoughts were preoccupied by the negative aspects of our room.
Later, orientation started, and my roommates and I often found ourselves letting in guests who were curious about the unique quad room. Every moment, I was answering questions ranging from “How’s your temp quad?” to “Woah, is that a metal rack?”Â
Maybe it was the nonstop questions taking my thoughts off of my frustration, or maybe it was the overwhelming amount of people crowding our spacious dorm with every passing second, but rather than the anxiety I felt during the weeks leading up to move-in, all I could feel was relief and comfort. For the first time, some part of me was slightly glad about being in a quad.
I never expected that I’d be living in a study lounge. But now, looking at the four slightly messy beds, the overfilled metal racks and drawers, a table with personal items scattered all over, and three other girls sprawled around the room, I wouldn’t hesitate to call this study lounge a second home.