Lauren Holleran

This week marks my last ever Passion Blog post, and also the finale of my residence hall reviews!  I chose to end my analysis with my current home– South Halls.

SOUTH HALLS: “The perfect location”

South Halls can be a bit confusing to discuss because not all of the individual halls are the same; even the location is more spread out than the other residence hall areas. I’ll try to give a brief overview of the aspects that they all have in common in order to give a fair representation of South.  All of the buildings in South are very nice, some are actually brand new, but even the older ones have nicer facilities than most residence halls.  The individual dorm rooms vary greatly in size so you can wind up with pretty much anything from Pollock-sized to West-sized rooms.

The best part about South Halls is their prime location on campus– most of the buildings are practically on College Ave, providing access to both the academic buildings and the downtown experience.  When you live in South Halls, you rarely take the CATA bus (some never do) because everything is closer by just walking there. The only time you would ever go on the Blue Loop is to get East Halls, or if you’re feeling especially lazy going to the library.

South Halls also has one of the best dining commons due to its wide variety of made-to-order booths.  These vary from a panini station to a Mexican station and many more.  Since there are so many options to pick for individual food styles, the buffet section isn’t all that great.  But of course South makes up for this by having their famous Late Night; a fourth meal served from 9pm to 1am in which breakfast food and other various junk food is served.

Now it is finally time for the big reveal– which residence hall is the fairest of them all? The answer is…

EASTVIEW TERRACE!

So I may have misled that I was only going to include East, West, Pollock, North, and South Halls…but of course I had to mention Eastview Terrace!  It is by far the nicest residence hall area, reserved for upperclassman only for good reasons, because it is actually perfect.

Eastview Terrace consists solely of fully-furnished single rooms with private bathrooms…that pretty much says it all.  It even got named on a “Top 10 Most Insanely Luxurious Residence Halls” so it was naturally the winner of my residence hall review.  Besides the actual rooms themselves, Eastview Terrace has the great location of being on College Ave and access to South and (just a slightly further walk) Pollock dining halls.

So this concludes my inside review of Penn States residence halls, with Eastview Terrace as the clear champion.  If you compare the other residence halls, they all has their advantages and disadvantages and it pretty much all comes down to a matter of personal preference.  I hope my guide was helpful to all of the future and current Penn Staters–but in the end, it doesn’t really matter which residence hall you live in, because you get to live in the happiest of valleys.

Good afternoon, hope you’re ready for another in-depth analysis of one of Penn State’s residence halls.   East, West, and Pollock Halls have already been scrutinized so now it is North Halls turn!  This will probably be the most helpful discussion since no one really seems to know that much about North Halls.

NORTH HALLS: “The forgotten hall”

To many, North Halls is an enigma since few venture out to North casually unless they live there.  The reason why North is “off the radar” is just because its location isn’t really near anything; it somehow has the feeling of being so far off campus while still being on campus.  In fact, its much closer to academic buildings than East Halls is, but it doesn’t have the lure of only freshmen.  I believe that North actually has the least amount of freshmen since they rarely opt for it.

North is ideal for those who want more seclusion and quiet.  If you ever venture up here, you will notice the immediate lack of hustle and bustle; even less noise than West.  Those that live here usually have established their friend-groups so its not the best for those aiming for a place with open doors all of the time.  It is often a popular choice for music and art majors and also has a special living option for them (Arts & Architecture).

The dining hall of North is pretty average; it is one of the smallest dining halls so it doesn’t have that many choices.  However, it is pretty well known for their Italian selections, so there is some reason to check it out.

Now before you start thinking, “Why would anyone ever want to live in North?”, I haven’t even gotten to the best part about North!  The reason why people deal with its location and lack-luster environment is that has some of the largest and nicest rooms.  Almost all of the rooms are two- or four-person suites with their own bathroom.  This is quite a step up from the usual communal bathrooms in all of the other residence halls, and that there is enough to convince many people to pick North Halls over others.  If you have a dorm in North, you have much more space for your belongings and actually provide guests with somewhere to sit other than your desk chair!

So if you’re feeling adventurous, then maybe the mysterious North Halls is the right choice for you.  Anyone who appreciates sharing a bathroom with a couple rather than twenty other people can appreciate the lure of living in North.  It is also good for upperclassmen who want to focus more on their studies rather than having to deal with a constant uproar of partying.  And of course when you want that kind of atmosphere, you can always take the CATA bus somewhere else!

Now that I’ve finished talking about North, I can finally move on to the last residence hall area, and also my dearest home away from home: South Halls.

This week marks the third installment of Penn State residence hall breakdowns.  So far, I have discussed the freshman-wonderland of East Halls and the stately buildings of West Halls.  I have given you a close up of the dorms, dining halls, and general atmosphere of these buildings, so whats next? Pollock Halls!

POLLOCK HALLS: “The dining hall with it all”

Pollock Halls are probably the most similar to East Halls, but there are some definite differences that separate from the classic freshman dorms.  The first two pictures above show the outside appearance of Pollock Halls and what the dorm room looks like while the lower picture showcases perhaps the finest feature of Pollock Halls: the dining hall!

Unlike West Halls, the dining at Pollock Halls is not simply defined by one food item; instead it is famous for everything that it holds!  First of all, it has the largest dining area, both in terms of eating choices and seating availability.  The buffet area has several separate specialty areas, such as “Leaf” (the salad bar shown in the picture), a smoothie bar, an Italian booth, and many more.  The best part about this is that its all included in the buffet so you can get a little of everything without having to commit to one type of meal.  And with plenty of seating ranging from traditional tables to a lounge area stocked with couches and televisions, you can easily spend a couple hours there.  The only bad aspect of Pollock’s dining hall is that due to its popularity, there is always a line that forms all the way down the stairs into the main lobby.  But most of the time the line moves fast and it is certainly worth the wait.  The building that houses the dining hall is so great that it even has a convenience store with made-to-order sandwiches (think a step below Wawa or Sheetz).

But like all residence halls, Pollock Halls is far from perfect due to its dorm rooms.  Surprisingly, their dorm rooms are smaller on average than East Halls, making them the smallest dorms on campus.  Although that is rather unfortunate, Pollock does make up for it by having a decent location on campus.  They are centrally located so that their close to the more popular buildings to have classes in. (Osmond, Willard, etc.)

As far as atmosphere goes, it is very similar to that of East Halls: people usually having their doors open and willing to meet new people.  In fact, it is usually a freshman’s second choice as residence hall.  The main difference is simply that its not only freshman, so it isn’t as “wild” as East.  But at least you don’t have to rely on the CATA bus for everything living at Pollock!

That concludes my discussion of Pollock Halls; a formidable place to live if you’re looking for great food, and an upbeat aura.  Next week, I’ll talk about one of the lesser known residence halls, North Halls.  Only a few more weeks until the official best residence hall is announced!

Welcome back to my ongoing review of the Penn State residence halls! This week is West Halls, famous for their “Is this even remotely baked?” cookies available at their dining hall.  But there’s much more to West than their cookies, and you’ll be sure to get the low down on West Halls here.

WEST HALLS: “Are we still at Penn State?”

Above is a small snapshot of the essence of West.  Many believe that when you walk over to West Halls, it’s like you have some how left the campus of Penn State.  The buildings are absolutely beautiful; it has the feeling of an Ivy League campus due to the elegant brick buildings, spacious pathways, and manicured greenery.  And when you walk inside of West, the rooms are on the larger side too.

Many prefer West because of its general peacefulness; its always a nice place to study.  Although it seems like it doesn’t belong on Penn State’s campus, its actually pretty close to most of the main buildings.  And if you want to study elsewhere, the library is just a short walk away.  Many engineer majors prefer West for both its calmness and proximity to most engineering buildings across the IST bridge.  In fact, there is a special living option called “E-House” just for engineers.  If you are looking for a wild and crazy residence hall, then West is probably not the choice for you.

But out of all the points brought up above, what West Halls is most famous for are its cookies.  Upon inquiring about West, you will certainly hear a rave about how delicious their under-done cookies are and how they are far superior than any others on campus.  But I’ll let you in on a little secret: all dining halls use the same cookie dough batter.  The reason why everyone obsesses over West Hall cookies is that the staff there has a strict cookie-schedule to ensure that there are always fresh cookies available.

Besides the cookies available, West Halls also carries over the relaxed feel to the dining commons.  The main buffet area rarely gets too crowded and you can usually grab a seat and chat with friends for as long as you’d like.  The options available are pretty standard, although not as good as Pollock’s, but I’ll get to that later.

So that’s pretty much all that is West Halls; all in all not a bad place to live if you’re looking for a more calm atmosphere.  Up for discussion next week is Pollock Halls; stay tuned to find out which dining hall is really the fairest of them all!

This week I won’t be focusing on dorm and apartment decor; I’ll be discussing the various residence halls at Penn State and how they compare to each other.  So you think yours is the best? Well the only way to know for sure is to read on. This also functions as a guide for both future freshmen on where they want to live and for current freshmen who actually get a say on where they want to live next year.  I’ll be discussing the various aspects on what defines a residence hall, such as overall feel, location, dining hall, individual dorms, and more.  Warning: I may be the tiniest bit biased towards my area: South Halls. But I’ll save that (the best) for last.  The first one up is the infamous freshman halls…

EAST HALLS: “The Classic Freshman Experience”

I think its safe to say we’re all familiar with East Halls; every Penn State has either lived there freshman year or visited freshmen there.  It has both its pros and cons; I’ll start out with the good parts.  The best part about it is that since its only freshmen, everyone is much willing to get to know each other and therefore most doors are always open, encouraging many friendships to bloom right away.  It is also has the most halls: a whopping 15 halls all close together.  When being stuck with this many people of the same age, you are bound to find some people to get along with.

The part that East Halls is most well known for is it being the location of the “party dorms.”  The explanation for this one is that since freshmen don’t usually know many other upperclassmen at first, and they are just dying to try out their new found freedom, they will host get-togethers in their little dorm rooms.  On any given night Thursday-Saturday, the East Halls will be full of everyone getting ready to go out: girls fussing over what to wear, guys blasting trap music with the door open, and RAs either desperately trying to calm them or just accepting the noise.  Now many will think “Wow, yeah that’s exactly what I want– non-stop party atmosphere!” But there’s more to East Halls then just a hyped atmosphere. (Also, on those nights you want to stay in–and they will happen–the noise is suddenly not so fun anymore.)

One fact about East Halls is that if you live there, you are going to have to learn to love to walk or solely depend on the CATA bus to transport you everywhere. (Hint: The CATA app is VERY unreliable, you will just miss the bus about 20 times per semester) The only good part about its location is its proximity to Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center, but hey that’s something!  As far as the individual dorms go, they are on the smaller side, which is typical of a freshman dorm at any college though.  Although the dorms are small, the accompanying dining hall is huge with plenty of (mostly unhealthy) options to offer. It even has its own (overpriced) gift shop that most people tend to avoid, but its there for your “school-spirit emergencies.”

That concludes my analysis of East Halls, next up: West Halls!

Hello all! To supplement last week’s original “Apartment Living,” I decided to add a sequel to it because I have even more tips! This week is on non-permanent ideas to invest in to make your apartment the best it can be.  One issue that people run into frequently when decorating apartments is that you want to personalize it, but you can’t do anything permanent.  No one wants to pay any extra fees to the land lord since you’re bound to run into other unforeseen expenses.  So my solution for you are these functional ideas that make your apartment a homier space than just the usual drab that is all too common at Penn State.

Problem: The apartment feels cramped and small

Solution: Add mirrors to create the illusion of space

The top picture utilizes the idea of using a mirror to reflect natural light into the apartment so that not only your space is larger, but sunnier too. (Well at least during the months that aren’t full of constant snow and misery…) The bottom picture shows an edgier way to hang up mirrors by hanging up three sideways full-length mirrors instead just one bug mirror.  This makes anything (including cheap furniture) look exponentially more “artsy.”

Problem: The floor is ugly and boring

Solution: Cover it with an awesome area-rug!

When picking out a cool area rug for your apartment, you can simplify it down into two categories: bold pattern or soft and fuzzy.  The one rule I have for picking out an area rug is not to get a light color, especially not white! Unless you want your apartment looking dirty from day one, its better to stick with something to hide the stains. Another rule of thumb is if you value an area rug more, keep it in your room so its less likely to get stained and you can still enjoy it.  The first category of rug is bold pattern; the ones shown above are available from Urban Outfitters, but you can find cheaper options at Target.  These ones tend to be smaller, so they’d look best in your bedroom, where it can also be slightly safer from kitchen stains.  The second rug category is soft and fuzzy, which can go with any kind of decor, even for guys!  I actually have a grey and black fuzzy rug in my dorm room right now and I’m in love with it; it livens up the room in a more subtle way and is perfect for relaxing on.  It is also excellent for hiding dirt– almost too good that I put off vacuuming for months… But it is certainly the ideal choice for the typical lazy college student, which I undoubtably am.

And that just about sums up my non-permanent apartment solutions; hopefully one day you will implement one or both! I know that I’ll at least bringing my favorite fuzzy rug with me to my apartment next year. That is one investment that you won’t ever regret; when will you not want a fuzzy rug in your living space?

~Happy Decorating~

This week I will no longer be focusing on “livin’ the dorm life,” instead I will be discussing how to spruce up your apartment! Unfortunately, I don’t live in an apartment yet, so I can’t speak from experience.  However, I will be living in one next semester so I’ll just share my future ideas.  Although I have never lived in an apartment, I have visited many of them and have seen some at their absolute worst.  Everyone likes to think that moving from a cramped dorm room to a spacious apartment means that it won’t get nearly as messy– wrong!  Because the difference here is that you won’t be living with just one roommate, you’ll have at least three. (For most apartments at least.) Don’t forget to add in the kitchen aspect: somebody’s going to have to clean those dishes eventually!

Now I don’t want to focus too much on the negative; living in an apartment is an exciting new step towards convincing ourselves that we can live independently! And when actually done well, it can be a rewarding experience…or so they say.  Well at least these people knew how to do apartment life right!

Okay well none our future apartments will ever look like that because we are all broke college students.  But there’s still hope for us, I promise! At the very least, I’ll give you tips and tricks on how to keep your apartment looking (and smelling) clean.

Tip #1: Plants = Air Fresheners

This is one of my favorite ideas because besides making the air cleaner, adding extra green to an apartment makes it a little classier.  And going off what I see here in State College, I rarely see any houseplants around.

Tip #2: Candles EVERYWHERE

I am obsessed with candles; I just think they create such a calm atmosphere, which is not found often at college.  I have been missing them ever since my move to my dorm room since candles are never allowed in dorm rooms (that whole “fire hazard” thing…). But now that I’m moving to an apartment, I can finally decorate my living space with them! And along with the thousands of scents you can buy, there are even more ideas of decorating them.  I like the top picture above because it all it requires is a simple tea light and any kind of patterned box with holes in it. (Check out Home Goods over the summer!) This is perfect for those times when you’re not throwing a party (or maybe an escape during a party) for you to just “zen it out.” Especially as we become upperclassmen, the impossible classes will drive us all crazy…

And my last tip on having a cleaner apartment…assign roommate responsibilities on day-one so you’re not fighting about taking out the trash the whole time.  Not really a decor tip, but it will sure make your apartment cleaner! And you can always make a hard copy of whatever you decide and hang it on the refrigerator door. (That way no one can deny their duty!) Well that concludes this weeks segment, ’till next time!

~Happy Decorating~