By: Madeline Cohen '18
As a sophomore this year, I live on West Campus. West Campus consists of five houses, each named after a Cornell professor who has impacted the Cornell community and the world as well. I live in Carl Becker House, which is named after a famous Cornell historian. I am fortunate to live in this newly renovated house, which is a wonderful place to come home to after a long day of classes. The goal of the West Campus founders was to create an intellectual community where graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty can come together to interact with one another. I love living on West Campus, and here are five reasons why:
1. Each dorm has its own study areas: There is nothing better than going downstairs to the library or one of the many study alcoves that exist in Becker House, especially when it's cold out. Whether I want to be in our library surrounded by students and books or in a private study space, options abound.
2. Professors and alumni come to talk in Becker House: We don’t have to leave our dorm to interact with professors or hear their perspectives on some of the biggest issues affecting our world. For example, Professor Maria Cristina Garcia and Professor Holly Case recently led an interesting and informative discussion about the current refugee crises in Europe and the Middle East.
3. As students, we get to create our own fun events for the House: From Halloween parties to pie-making socials, students organize the events in Becker House. Each Sunday night, all interested students come together to plan events to bring members of the Becker House community together.
4. We have dinners as a House each Wednesday night: Wednesday nights are particularly great experiences – every week, the tables are covered with tablecloths and each place setting gets its own cloth napkin and silverware for that night’s special dinner. Although dinner at Becker House includes a wide array of food options every night — from Italian night to Asian night — there is always something extra special when our faculty fellows and residents come together for “House Dinner.” The food is always wonderful - recently we had chocolate fondue for dessert!
5. The walk to and from classes is beautiful! The walk up and down Libe Slope, even though it’s sometimes challenging, is one of my favorite parts of being a student. It is invigorating and leaves me energized when I arrive at class. Also, the view walking down the slope in the afternoon is breathtaking (check out Dylan Van Duyne’s October post for a wonderful picture of the sun setting over the Slope and West Campus!).
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