By Marianna Michael–

Dorm life is something every kid has pictured since watching Boy Meets World. It’s painted as a place to grow up, make friends, and have fun. University of Louisville Properties offers all this and a little bit more in Community Park.

Community Park, or CP as its residents call it, is located right at the heart of Greek Row.

To some, its location is prime – but to others, not so much. During fraternity Rush Week, the doors of CP are crowded with well-dressed frat boys who refuse to leave the sidewalk for anyone who wants to get into their dorm. It’s also the who-can-turn-up-their-music-the-loudest competition. The best advice for anyone trying to focus in CP is to vacate your room and head to the relatively empty library. Luckily, those festivities only last one week and normal life resumes at its end.

The main things that residents have to combat now that the weather is nice outside are the random pick-me-up games that usually include the throwing of some object. People crossing through the courtyard should watch out for the flying whiffle ball/volleyball/Frisbee that may be making its way to their heads. The number of near-misses is ridiculous, but in all fairness it is not completely the fault of whoever is playing their game. Yes, the players should watch out for people who are passing through, but those crossing the courtyard should also make sure they do not walk in the middle of a game. One might find oneself walking through a very intense light saber battle on their way to get to their room—it does happen.

As annoying as Rush Week can be, it’s not the greatest source of resident problems. What is going on with unexplained fire evacuations? Sure, we’re supposed to be prepared at a moment’s notice in case of emergency – but how about letting us know beforehand (if it’s a drill) so we’re not in the shower? No student living on-campus can forget the evacuation that happened at 1 AM in the pouring rain during finals week. This evacuation was never explained – what are the chances of a planned fire drill during finals week? It’s not unreasonable for someone who is living in a complex to want to know what is going on in his/her building – it wouldn’t take a lot of time or effort to type up a brief explanation of why the fire alarms went off. Even if these events are just drills, it would be nice to know there isn’t a something life-threatening happening in the building.

Especially affecting residents of Bettie Johnson and Cardinal Towne is the random, early-bird protesters outside of the Cardinal Towne restaurants. The most common protests are outside Jimmy Johns and Cluckers – chants can be heard throughout the residence areas nearby. On top of this, they pose an obstacle when getting to class. Their right to protest should not interfere with the right of students to get to class.

Another issue that can arise is the in-house printing that is supposed to be available. Many students have planned to use the free printer in the lobby only to find out that it was out of ink or out of order. Depending on how much time the resident has, most run to one of the other ULP properties or go straight to the library. Having to fix the printer when it is broken is an understandable dilemma, but running out of ink is something that whoever is in charge of the printer could prepare for.

One of residents’ favorite parts about living on campus is the random (and few) times when the water or electricity has to be shut off for an undisclosed amount of time. In addition to the obvious reasons why this is an inconvenience, it is quite horrible when you are writing a paper and need to plug in your computer but are unable to. Luckily ULP does a decent job of getting everything up and running in as little time as possible.

Apart from these minor interruptions to daily life, living on campus can be pretty great. Being just minutes from class and avoiding the stress of landlords are among the many benefits, but resident life could be much better if these problems were avoided.

Cartoon illustration by Michael Layman/The Louisville Cardinal

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Photo/Flickr: UniversityofLouisville