Ah, the spring at Brown is finally upon us. If you are an upperclassman, you are probably looking forward to what should be a great time. If you are a freshman, this spring could determine the way the rest of your college experience looks. Soon you must choose where to live your sophomore year. Most students enter the housing lottery with a small group and pray for the best. There is, however, an attractive alternative to keep in mind: program houses and Greek life.
It may seem trivial, but where and with whom you live at Brown determines who you see, what you choose to do and the ways in which you spend your time. In some ways I am making a big deal about nothing. You will likely be happy at Brown no matter where or who you live with. On the other hand, by random chance, Brown's placement of you in your freshman hallway certainly influenced the decisions you ultimately made, and this is not to be taken lightly.
If you are a freshman reader who thinks that you have found your perfect friend group or thinks that you have it all figured out, take a second and open your eyes. You have been in college for a few months. You have probably only just learned the names of all of the school buildings. More importantly, you have not met enough people. This may seem shocking — surely you have made many new friends in college and feel constantly surrounded by interesting people. Unfortunately, you are one of 6,000 undergraduates. It is strange then that going into the lottery is such a natural thing to do.
Here is what will likely happen if you choose the housing lottery route. You will have a group of five to ten friends that you feel comfortable with. You may get a decent number and wind up in Graduate Center. You may even get a single! Hurray! You have survived the lottery unscathed. This thinking belies the truth of the matter. You have made a very boring choice. You have come to college, a place where the most fundamental thing you can do is interact with others and learn from your peers, and with your first major decision, you have decided to live in an ugly tower with narrow hallways with a few people you just met. I could insert some humorous metaphor here to further explain my logic, but I believe the point is self-evident.
On the other hand, program houses are a fun way to keep the spirit of freshman year alive for a while longer. What do I mean by this? Well, freshman year is about getting your toes wet, meeting many new people and trying new things. Joining a Greek house or program house can give you all of these things because the types of people who join come from self-selective pools of applicants.
Now you may say, "Well I can see how the houses could be fun in theory, but in practice Sigma Chi guys are really big jerks, and Buxton House kids are douches." If you believe these disparaging remarks, then you do yourself no favors. Program houses are nothing like what they seem. While there may be individuals in the houses that stand out as intolerable, these same people may likely be your neighbors if you get stuck as an independent in Wriston Quadrangle. You should not allow this assumption to form the basis of all of your judgments about a house. Go to some open houses or rush events and see for yourself. After all, we go to the same school and, for the most part, share the same core values.
If you are judging these houses based on your own experience at the large campus-wide parties they throw, your logic is further biased. Program houses throw those parties to attract potential applicants, but your average class-F party, as they are called, is filled with freshmen. Essentially, they are high school dance parties with alcohol, and they are heavily monitored and regulated by the University. They in no way represent the typical atmosphere of the house and in no way embody the feel of life there.
At a program house, you get to live in a lively place that collects funds and appropriates them to maximize everyone's enjoyment. You get to forge bonds that last a lifetime that are strengthened by close proximity, and you can still do everything that you would have done living with your other friends.
Living amongst a bunch of crazy kids who are all smart and open to new experiences is fun, and it is the stereotypical point of college. Furthermore, it is an attractive alternative to the housing lottery at the very least. If you do not feel 100 percent comfortable with your housing group, then give a program house a try. At no other time in life will you be able to walk down the hall to a friend's room and hang out whenever you want. Don't end that after one year by moving into the Grad Center prison. I will conclude by putting in a personal plug: Join Buxton, even if you are American like me.
Lucas Husted '13 is an American in Buxton, and you can, too! He can be reached at Lucas_Husted@brown.edu.
