My first impression of the Corner was that it was just about the most intimidating place in the entire world, exclusively populated by cool college kids who were infinitely out of my social league. After being admitted to the University, I was on a cross-country trip with my mom to check out the different schools I had gotten into. After several delays, our flight got in at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday, but my mom and I hadn’t eaten dinner so we left our room at the Cavalier Inn in hopes of finding a quick meal. Unfortunately, rather than finding wholesome restaurants that an 18-year-old girl would want to sit at with her mother, I found a bar scene that was pretty much the opposite of what I had been expecting. Essentially, it was like walking into a party where you don’t know a single person. But, like, you also have your mom with you.
We ended up walking all the way up the Corner, scared of every single establishment because of the loud music and rowdy crowd. Eventually we hit the hospital and had to turn around, then eventually took cover from the mayhem at Littlejohn’s.
Now, I’m older, wiser and totally hip to student life here at the University — or, at least, I like to think so. So, for any first-year who doesn’t know what a “Wahoo” is, here’s your guide to the wild, fun and always unpredictable hub of university life — the Corner.
Bodo’s Bagels
Before attending the University, I had eaten approximately four bagels in my entire life — I come from a toast-eating family, please forgive me — so Bodo’s really rocked my world. Some of my New Jersey and New York friends like to turn up their noses and claim that Bodo’s can’t compare to the bagels in their hometowns. However, Bodo’s is open all day long. I might be a bagel novice, but even the dissenters can’t argue that the ability to have a bagel for every meal isn’t an incredible thing. Pro tip — I’d recommend Bodo’s Sundays, which is a tradition among my friends, during which you eat bagels at Bodo’s. On Sundays.
Got Dumplings/Marco & Luca
Where will your loyalties lie? Both places offer dumplings, but one has a truck, while the other has the perk of being open until 2 a.m. My friend Sarah was partial to Marco & Luca, and one time actually laid down in the road outside of the store after realizing that it was closed in her time of need — 2:30 a.m. It’s instances of exemplary devotion like this that make me think students here care more about dumplings than they do about our football team.
Coupes
Coupes is a smaller bar on the corner, where you can get your groove on to live music almost any night of the week. It’s known for being fairly lenient when it comes to dancing on tables and also for having the smallest bathroom on this side of the Mississippi. Seriously, it’s a shoebox. But does that stop packs of five girls from piling in at once? No, never, because group bathroom visits are a sacred practice.
1515
This new student space just opened last semester. It’s the kind of place that you go to “study” with your friends, but actually end up just talking about what happened to each of you last weekend, leaving a textbook or laptop open somewhere in your vicinity in hope that the information will somehow diffuse into your brain. But is it really my fault for getting so distracted when there’s comfy chairs, a snack vendor and an arcade all within one building?
Trinity Irish Pub
Some would say this is where they lost their faith in humanity, while others call it the backdrop of “their best night out — EVER”. Architecturally, Trin boasts a balcony where people like to light up cigarettes and flirt with both carcinogens and a staircase that’s notoriously treacherous. I’ve seen far too many people wipe out walking down the stairs from Trin 2 to Trin 1. But, more often than not, when people refer to Trin, they’re referring specifically to Trin 3 — the dance floor. Somehow, students seem to be reduced to a more primitive state of being up there. From hookups to illegal substances to bodily functions — it can all be seen publicly. Unfortunately.
Boylan Heights
I was recently at a party when a guy inadvertently exposed himself as a first-year by asking me “Are you going to Boylan’s?” Any true University student should know that this place is called “Boylan” by almost everyone, “Boylan’s” by naive first-years who probably haven’t been there yet and “the Heights” by literally no one ever. It’s also home to a drink called the “Wahoo” which now comes in these funky hot pink cups emblazoned with a fish. Another thing to note is how the upstairs is basically just a cloud of hot, sweaty smog. I always arrive feeling like a fairly decent version of myself, but leave drenched in sweat — which I’m fairly certain isn’t entirely mine.
On the rest of my college tour trip, I saw lots of schools that were in the middle of a big cities, in the middle of nowhere and basically anything in between. But there was nothing quite like the Corner anywhere else. I think we forget that not all schools have such a centralized array of restaurants and shops, all within walking distance and almost exclusively populated by students. Other college kids have to Uber everywhere and have to party with real adults. So, go out there and embrace this totally unique facet of the University.
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