Tulio Huggins

The Glorious 3 Room Double

I remember back in the summer when I was waiting anxiously for my room assignments. I was with two other '23s, and we all were glued to our phones, constantly refreshing our inboxes for the big email from Dartmouth College. It felt like college decision day all over again. Was I going to get a good room? Who was going to be my roommate? Where was my dorm going to be? Was it going to be close to the main campus?

Finally, it came.

With nervousness, I quickly opened my email to find out my living situation for my first year of college.

Dorm: Judge Hall

Room: 3-room double

Judge Hall is in the River Cluster, which I quickly learned is a hefty walk from the main campus around the Green. I was a little saddened by this. Freshman year was big; I didn't want a bad rooming situation to make my year even more overwhelming. But my fears soon abated when I recognized the true value of the room I got.

"Hey, our names are Tulio and Brendan and welcome to our crib"

A 3-room double means that there are three separate areas in my room: a common room where my and my roommate's desks would be, and two individual rooms, one for each of us. Our beds, closets, and drawers would all be in our individual rooms. This room set up was made exactly for my needs.

My personal room pictured during the few times it is clean

See, I'm an outgoing introvert. I love to hang out with people and be in a group, but I also value my alone time. Having a three-room double is perfect for my type of personality. I get to have someone to talk and interact within my room, which I feel is necessary when it's your first year of college. However, I always have a retreat to head to if I feel overwhelmed, or if I just want to be alone. If I want to dance around to some Kings Kaleidoscope, if I come in late from studying at Baker, I wouldn't have to wake up my roommate and disturb him, and vice versa. I have my space, and my roommate has his own, all while still having that roommate relationship. My room gives me the best of both worlds.

As you can tell, I am ALWAYS focused when doing work

So yeah, the distance from Judge Hall to places like FOCO or Baker Library can be challenging — but that's what bikes are for! I am thankful to have a room that fits my needs as a person and allows me to both have a roommate and my own place. And it also taught me to never judge (no pun intended) a book by its cover!