Sherman Ave Freshman Guide: Living In Allison Hall
Oh, you just found out you were assigned to Allison Hall for your freshman year? Wellll then, CONGRATULATIONS YOU JUST WON. EVERYTHING. For starters, this place is a hotel. Seriously. Some witty, clever students have even taken to calling it... "Hotel Allison!" If you think about that one for a minute, you'll get it. But that's because Allison underwent a multi-million dollar renovation a few summers ago, leaving it with pristine bathrooms, brand new furniture and weirdly orange walls. There's AC in every room and overhead lighting (you'd think that wouldn't be an issue anymore, but, well, Hinman). Anyway, the point is that the facilities are fanfuckingtastic.
Beyond the amenities, there's still so much more to love. For starters, it's a big social dorm, but not on the scale of Bobb. This gives you some leeway to find your own social scene and figure out how much alcoholmouthtime is right for you. If you're looking to rage every night all quarter (lol freshman year) you'll be able to find people in your dorm to accommodate that. If you wanna go out a few times a week, there will be plenty of chances (even if "go out" means go down the hall and chug Skol in someone's room* then NOT go to the Keg because SOMEONE took that small joy away from us). And if you don't think partying's going to be your thing, Allison has plentyyy of other kiddos who feel the same way and just wanna hang. With a couple hundred of your closest friends nearby at all times, there's almost always something to do.
Sometimes, that thing to do is eating food. Fortunately, you don't have to leave the building to get working on the freshman 95. Allison houses among the best dining halls on campus. Complete with a nice salad bar, a kosher station (happy Rosh Hashanah botchez), and an ice cream machine, Allison Dining Hall is top notch. What puts the food over the top, however, is the grill. Like literally, those chicken wraps?! I hope Rick Santorum was right about the DOMA decision because I wanna marry those wraps in a big Italian wedding. And on top of the nomz at your disposal, you'll find the nicest, most enthusiastic NUCuisine employee on campus. Coming down to the dining hall on Fridays to hear Ellery's shouts of joy, well, it's intoxicating enough that you may never want to drink again!**
The location of Allison is decent, if not perfect. It's all the way down south, so when you're going out with your friends to take super fun shotz at super cool fratz, you'll wanna know the shuttle schedule. If memory serves, that 10:34pm Campus Loop will be your friend. However, Allison is incredibly close to Evanston, making it easier than ever to grab Chipotle (who are we kidding, there ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't flash flood wiiiiide enough, to keep me from smearing a burrito bowl on myself) or run over to Bar Louie for dollar beer Wednesdays.
Oh, and did I mention there's a DOG?! YEAH. A REAL LIVE PUP. DORM PUP. Allison has a live-in faculty member, Friend of the Ave and psychology professor Renee Engeln. Renee lives in a sick setup on the first floor of Allison with her dog, meaning you essentially have a dog. Unless you're allergic, in which case it's fine cause you don't actually have a dog. Renee does.
There are, understandably, one or two minor downsides to living in Allison. If, for example, you have class in Tech. It will seem like a quick, easy walk. Then October 10th will come around, the weather will turn to something out of Anna Karenina and you will tragically freeze to death on your way to class and no one will stop to help because we don't acknowledge other humans on Sheridan Road. RIP you, "u werre 2 jung."
Another potential downside is the relative lack of community. You may very well get tight with your hall or plenty of other people in Allison. But the inherent difficulties of housing freshmen and a few sophomores together (at least for now), not to mention the sheer size of the dorm, make the camaraderie a little less intense. There's plenty of Allison pride, but it's not like Elder or Willard. If you're looking for that, your best bet is to try to bring your hall together as much as possible. If you live in the Virgin Vault, this is easier than anywhere else.
But most of all, cherish this time. You were picked, out of thousands of students, to live in the best dorm on campus. Don't ever forget that. DON'T. EVER. FUCKING. FORGET. THAT. <3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * NOTE: be careful with this one. Allison CA's have been known to write people up for minor infractions like "taking 14 shots in an hour and hollering loudly about it."
** You will want to drink more, if anything.
