Dance parties, huge orders of Chinese takeout, sports competitions, dorm-wide games of Assassins and yes, even studying ... sounds like typical first-year life. Mud-sliding also has proven to be a popular and daring activity whenever Charlottesville receives an abundance of rain.
All of these experiences have given first-year students a sense of belonging in their new home environments. The dorms on McCormick and Alderman roads will serve as home to almost 3,000 first years for the next eight months, and first years are taking great pride in their new residences, sometimes even to the point of friendly rivalry.
"Dorm pride was started by and is maintained by students," Dean of Residence Life Angela Davis said.
Many first years attribute their great sense of dorm pride and belonging to their residential advisers, whose job it is to unite the incoming students, often by developing unique themes and clever games for the first few days of orientation.
"People have always been excited about where they live," said fourth-year College student Michael Dunn, a co-chair of resident staff. "It's exciting to go to a new place, get thrown into a dorm with a bunch of strangers and make that your home over the course of a year. I think it's natural to have pride in that."
Move-in day saw colorful banners flying from the rafters, welcoming students to "Top Dunn" and "Fitzhugh like a Glove."
"Resident Staff members decorate the dorms for opening every year to get residents excited and to welcome them to the University," Dunn said.
Now that the school year is well underway, students have found interesting ways of making their respective dorms stand apart from the rest. The men in Watson said they enjoy taking part in a game known as "extreme dorm ball."
First-year College student Charles Miller would not disclose all the details, but he said the game included "diving, injuries and bloodshed, but absolutely no destruction of property."
Within each dorm, there also seems to be a great deal of musical talent. One of the suites in Dunglison has as its residents a guitarist, a drummer, a vocalist and a bass player. First-year College student Chandler Bricklemyer also found musical companions in his Courtenay suite.
"What better way to divert your studies than to play guitar with three of your suitemates," Bricklemyer said.
Neighbors in nearby suites said the four guitarists often can be heard until all hours of the night, jamming under the stars at the picnic tables in front of the dorm.
With intramural sports now underway, first years are jumping at the opportunity to leave their rival dorms in the dust. First-year Engineering student Mike Elchinger, who lives in Dobie, said he feels very confident in his team's athletic abilities.
"We're gonna kick Balz," Elchinger said.
First years, however, often feel a little overwhelmed at the onset of classes, making it difficult to find time for sports.
"It's hard to get the sports program started within the dorms because people are so busy," said first-year College student Travis Cushman, an IM sports coordinator. "But once people start going to the games, they realize how much fun it is. That's where the dorm pride really starts. You learn to trust one another. You go all out and really develop that sense of pride."
Although the purpose of the IM program is for first years to have fun while getting involved in athletic activities, some dorms do not always know where to draw the line between cordial competition and full-out enmity.
"In the past, some dorms have taken friendly competition and turned it into a rivalry, which can be problematic," Dunn said. "But usually everyone just has fun with their friends and neighbors and leaves it at that."
One distinctive feature that has brought the first years in Webb together is the fact that nearly all residents are Echols and Rodman scholars.
"We all do our work, but we also have a lot of fun," said first-year College student Irene Reynolds, who is an Echols Scholar. "If you need help, there's always someone you can turn to."
Reynolds admitted that other first-years have questioned the athletic abilities of the Echols Scholars, but she said they hope to shatter that stereotype.
"We're trying to break that image of nerds who never see the light of day," Reynolds said.
On a different note, the smoking habit has brought together a group of the men in Dunglison.
"There's the social smoker, then there's us," said first-year College student Sebastian Temme.
Theseresidents frequently can be spotted sitting out in the lawn chairs in front of their dorm, enjoying a cigarette break in the company of other smokers. The lawn chairs were once permanent fixtures on their porch until the Housing Division made them remove their chairs because of fire regulations.
"We're there for each other whenever someone's trying to quit," said first-year Engineering student Tom Heyward. But his sincere-sounding remark was shattered as he added, "We're sure to offer him another cigarette. There's no one quitting here."
Heyward and his suitemates even started a "Camel cash fund." They admitted that the money is now gone, but they're planning on rebuilding it. These heavy-duty smokers may not be the healthiest students, but their smoking habits have definitely fostered a bond.
For the kids in Courtenay, the residence hall farthest down Alderman Road past Scott Stadium, residents said the distance from most University activities has really encouraged them to stick together.
"You know you live in Courtenay when it takes 30 minutes to walk to Rugby Road on a Friday night and an hour and half to walk home," first-year Architecture student Garett Rouzer said.
The entire dorm also has pitched in to buy a dorm grill, which they plan to use for Friday night cookouts or pre-game parties. First-year Architecture student Gus Lynch was responsible for organizing funds and purchasing the grill.
"I thought the grill would bring the dorm together," Lynch said. "Dean's sirloin just didn't cut it."
Living away from home brings a great sense of independence, but also added responsibility. In any case, this year's first-year students, like all those who have come before, are taking great pride in their new dorms, and they are on their way to making themselves feel an integral part of the University community.
"As staffers, it's always rewarding to see residents taking pride in their dorms and feeling like part of the larger community," Dunn said. "It's one of the best parts about living in first-year housing"
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