Fast Times at McGill High
It’s now time to discuss a topic near and dear to my heart: McGill. I simply cannot fathom living in another dormitory. McGill is the place where less judgmental, open-minded free-spirits go to thrive. As an ally, I rally behind its inclusive, safe and welcoming environment that’s open to people of all sexualities and gender identifications. There is an open invitation to chalk up the walls of our room without censorship; there is a healthy balance between thought-provoking quotes and crude drawings of genitalia. Every Sunday through Wednesday night (Thursdays through Saturdays are set aside for other sources of entertainment), my roommate and I host movies suggested predominately from IMDBs Top 250 list. Often they are artistic and/or intellectually-stimulating and promote healthy analytic discussion. Every week, respective experts in their fields come and talk about important relevant issues, from gun control to Ferguson and from LGBTQI+ rights to combating rape culture prevalent on most college campuses.
I don’t want to reinvent the wheel on literature about McGill; one of my good friends and fellow blogger, James Lopez, wrote a fantastic piece about his tremendously positive experiences as a transfer student living in McGill. You can find the blog post here. Another fellow McGillite and resident LGBTQI+ expert Kait Spear wrote a very eloquent, eye-opening expose about my coed floor’s “toptional” (top-optional) policy. She discusses the policy’s history and the discussion it has spawned for combatting gendered double standards and the sexualization of breasts. Lastly, an even more definitive piece of McGill literature comes from an old McGillite heralding from the Class of 2004. Though a bit dated considering that the southern conservative vibe at Vanderbilt is thankfully not nearly as pronounced nowadays and that the dorm has lost some of its radical edge, the article still does an amazing job of describing McGill’s unique culture.
Anyways, the purpose of this blog post (and the subsequent one as well) is just to give example after example of the crazy awesome shenanigans that I have personally experienced throughout the semester. The hope is, if any of y’all resonate with what is written, that you come check out my humble abode!
Let’s start with our lovely faculty head of house: Dr. Laurie Woods. Heads of houses are professors who graciously agree to live with crazy college kids for an entire year, lending the dorm a heightened sense of community and family. I absolutely loved mine from last year in Stambaugh House, and this year is no different.
She has baked us some amazing brownies, if you know what I mean. All pot jokes aside, she actually did craft fantastic snickerdoodle cookies where the taste of love was overpowering. During finals week, she and her gym buddy Rita made hundreds of deliciously fluffy pancakes, whilst we all played with Gracie. Gracie is her energetic, fun-loving puppy who frequently visits us in the lobby and outside while on her walks. Dr. Woods has hosted monthly dinners for our floor. For each event, she went all out for decorations, and the home-cooked food it to die for. The discussions are equally entertaining. At the last dinner, we played a fun game where one person (which rotated clockwise) asked a question – light-hearted, serious, and anything in between – and every person answered. Some fun ones included “What do you look for in a partner?”, “What do you see yourself doing in twenty years?”, and “What is your most conservative viewpoint?” The last one was quite interesting, considering the dorm’s incredibly liberal populace. (Side note: it should be pointed out that, despite this liberal majority, people of all political leanings and persuasions truly are welcomed as soon as they step foot into the dorm.) I copped out and responded with, “I strongly believe that the amount of momentum before and after a collision should be conserved”. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to ask my question: “What would you ask an omniscient being?” Maybe next time!
Here seems like a natural stopping point. Catch y’all on the flip side with further inside info on the legendary place they call McGill. I hope you’re not lactose intolerant because it’s going to be legen…wait for it…