The Village Review

This is just purely an opinion but the bathrooms in the Villages seem to be somewhat of a waste of space. The bathrooms located inside each of the living spaces contain a toilet and a shower bathtub. The rooms in which these are located are massive in comparison to the living areas themselves. This is a good thing in some ways and in others it is a bit annoying. The wonderful use of space in the bathrooms by the construction company JPI is great but I would rather have their use of space focused on a part of the living quarters that I spend a majority of my time. Another small problem I have with the restrooms is that the congruity between the rooms is almost non-existent. I believe that no two bathrooms are the same. Wonderful work JPI with the bathrooms, but maybe use a bit of the space in the bathroom to give people a chance to live in their rooms instead of run to their toilets to get rid of their claustrophobia.

The Villages are really far away from all of my favorite sporting venues that house OSU athletics. This would be Boone Pickens Stadium, Galleghar-Iba Arena and Allen P. Reynolds Stadium. This poses a rather large problem for me being such a large sports fan. The walking distance doesn’t stop me. I find myself making the hike most Saturdays in the fall over to the football field. When winter comes around and I can get my hands on tickets, I make the journey to watch a little round ball. When spring rolls around, I can’t help but walk that extra half-mile or so to watch some baseball after class. Something about OSU athletics just makes the two-mile trip well worth it every time. Go Pokes!

Living on campus can have unique advantages such as convenient access to classes, sporting events and most importantly, centrally located in Stillwater allowing ease in traveling to parties. However, there are times when everyone on campus finds boredom taking control. These are a few things I have found to kill the time in the safest and most effective ways. Different types of boredom call for different calls to action but the most universal time killer is to play video games. I’m not talking about new age multiplayer online role-playing games, those work as well, but I mean the good old games like Tetris. Even the most mundane games like solitaire can help pass the time in a calming manner, key to every college student. This year, I have found that my favorite way to pass the time is to go out and put the high priced HDTV to use. I find myself sitting out in the lounge for hours watching TV and visiting with friends. This seems to be the best form of stress release, for me at least. Even better though, it is an awesome time killer. The next thing you know, it is Friday night and there is a party at a friend’s house. I full night of partying complete with late night trips to visit friends that work the late shift at McDonald’s.

Just as the keys found at some of the other residential halls at OSU, the keys at the Villages are the magic little pieces of magnetic metal. The key is a small flat piece of shiny metal that looks similar to… well it looks like nothing else. Measuring about two inches long and paper-thin, the metal slice contains a small magnetic strip that slides into a spinning round carousel-like lock. The magnetic strip inside the key magically reacts with the lock in some way that unlocks the door allowing access to the halls and the rooms.

These little marvels are very interesting but at the same time can be frustrating. Unlike normal keys, these card-like slivers can get bent easily with little stress. This bending can sometimes damage the key making them ineffective in unlocking the doors. Another problem with the ‘key’ came about with a girl on my floor. She has a purse with a magnetic closure. Her key got caught between the two magnets in her purse rendering her key useless in all doors.

Another problem with the keys is the ease in which they can be used. After, and only after two years living in rooms that use this type of key have I gotten used to operating the sliver style key. The key still poses some problems on late nights. All in all the keys are unique like the places we live. So having experienced the keys at OSU, I can honestly say I really don’t like them at all.

After going on four semesters here at OSU, I have learned that for late night classes and class on the other side of campus, the bus is always a very viable option for most students.  Walking is a very healthy way to exercise; however, walking back and forth across campus three to four times a day becomes very annoying.

The best part about the new Villages is that there are two bus routes that run in front of the village complex.  This has become very convenient for me because there is one bus that runs across campus directly to the Serantean Center, a frequent stop for me these days.  There is a link to the bus routes and schedules on the main page but if you click here , it will also take you to the same place.  The Black routes are those traveling to and from the Villages.  But other routes may be important as well.

Many students living on campus are forced to pay for a meal plan through Oklahoma State University. This meal plan option allows for students to pay a set amount of money into an account not unlike a debit account. This money can be used at various places across campus.

With that explained, now I can talk about the places to spend this money on food. The Villages are surrounded by various dining options. Across the street from Village E and F, is the Kerr-Drummond mezzanine, containing various places to eat such as Pistol Pizza, 20 Something a convenience store containing the always-popular Taco Mayo. The other side of the building contains a largely unused dining area that had a buffet style restaurant last year, but, after a renovation over the summer, now has a late night grill known as the All-Niter. All of these options are very easily accessible from the Villages.

Across the large parking lot between Village F and Wentz one can find the ever-popular Bakery. Here, students find everything from deli-style sandwiches to fully customizable salads and my favorite, fresh-fruit smoothies. Upstairs from the Bakery resides the newly added Retro Burger. This restaurant changes at night to The Service Station, allowing students to enjoy a sit down meal. The plus to all of these eating establishments on campus, not just those around the Villages, they all employ students wanting to earn extra cash or it allows art students to get a jump start on their future job. Just kidding, but seriously…

Little known fact about the new Villages, it costs $16 for every hole placed in the walls of a resident’s room.  No joke, $16 a hole.  Even the small holes left by pushpins that are used to hold posters.

Well, after doing some research to save myself some money at the end of the year, I found this little bit of basic repair information on MSN.com.   This page gives some quick tips on repairing small holes in drywall.  May I suggest going to a local hardware store or paint store, and take some pictures or samples of paint for them to match.  About a pint should be all that is needed to cover a few rooms worth of poster holes.  So get some friends together and pitch in a few bucks and possibly save more than $100 at the end of the year.

Now some people may wonder, “What is so great about living on campus?” Here may be the best answer. As you can see in the pictures, the activities that take place outside the Villages are almost always entertaining. The only events outside the Villages are not fun are the wonderful fire drills at eleven o’clock in the evening (I’ll see if I can get a video or pics of one of the many fire drills in the coming weeks). But people are often having fun outside playing basketball, football, volleyball or just hanging out enjoying the wonderful Oklahoma weather.

Even though there are many places on campus for students to reside, friendships last over time and distances. This statement holds true for me and here’s why.

Most students living in the massive dorms found on campus go in to the experience with negative thoughts. This was not how I felt about my living in Wentz my freshman year. I felt confident that I would have a good time no matter where I resided at nights. When I came here, I only knew four people on campus and I visited Stillwater for the first time the day I signed up for classes. I came into this whole college experience with an open mind and ready for anything thrown my way.

From day one, I knew I was in the right spot because my Residential Advisor was crazy. Turns out he may have been the greatest RA of all time. The majority of the residents of the Eighth Floor of Wentz were really cool and all got along very well. The reason I can write this with all confidence is that just last week, we all got together to celebrate my birthday. All of us meshed back together to the point it felt like freshman year all over again. For most that wouldn’t be a good thing but for me, it was great. Almost a year apart for some of us, and all of us had a great time. Who would have known that going into my freshman year on campus that I would make friends that I would hang out with for a long time to come.

I would like to think that for every on campus, dorm horror story, there are many stories like mine that help on campus residential housing succeed for years to come.