Constructing my freshman year

When I pictured my freshman year in the dorm, I had a whole list of possibilities for what might await me. I thought about getting to know my neighbors, staying up late, ordering pizza a little too often and smuggling wine and nati in backpacks into the small space I was to share with a near stranger.

Of course, I also thought about the downsides. I’m not totally out of my mind — there’s showering with shoes, that one crazy neighbor and maybe even some annoying bros down the hall.

But I certainly didn’t expect to be woken up every morning by the sound of jackhammers echoing off the decrepit walls of Forest Quad. Well, that has been my freshman year. Not only that, but because of the construction around Forest this year, I’ve been notified that the water in the already sketchy bathrooms isn’t safe to drink for the next few days.

Not to mention that occasionally we lose power, and instead of using the computers in the lounge, we get to listen to drilling or gaze out the sealed-off front doors at all the excitement unfolding in the middle of the circle drive.

I know, it sounds like a laundry list of first-world problems. But in reality, I’m paying a lot of money to be living like this. The same amount of money that people not living around this construction are paying. And the same amount of money that incoming freshman will pay next year when everything will (hopefully) be finished and the new tricked-out food court will be in place. Awesome.

Construction has been every roommate problem I thought I would ever have. Loud noises while I’m sleeping. All of their inconsiderate mess blocking my door. And just generally making my life difficult and not considering my time or happiness for that matter.

I never got a warning about any of this, either. I just showed up on day one of college, and my resident assistant mentions, “Oh yeah, there might be some construction or something.”

It’s times like these that I just feel like another cash cow in a herd of 40,000. IU certainly preaches an experience where each student is treated like a unique individual, but when I’m showering in the dark in unsanitary water, I don’t feel like it.

­— jkaneshi@indiana.edu