Life on 5west
It's very difficult to generalize our hall into "we like sports" or "we study a lot". The one truly common thing is that we really enjoy spending time with each other!
Do we play sports? Yep! We have an intramural C-league soccer team. We were undefeated two years ago (and undefeat-ing last year...) We had an intramural pool team last year which fared pretty well too. Some hall members also participate on varsity teams.
Any musicians? Yep! Trumpets, violins, guitars, and singing can be heard on the hall. Sometimes we make group trips to our hall members' concerts.
Hackers? Yep. We have a few folk who know MIT buildings and passageways better than the people who designed it and can pick a lock in short order.
Writers, actors, dancers, gymnasts, composers, visual artists and more have all called 5west their home.
But what might suprise you is that graduated alums come back! By choice!
Our hall celebrates several occasions by inviting back alums. Friends you make on 5west are friends you keep. Especially popular is our Thanksgiving dinner, a formal meal that we prepare and serve to ourselves and our alums-- and that can be quite a crowd!
Do we ever get off-campus? Yep! Of course there are special outings for concerts, parties, or something random like bowling, but we regularly escape MIT for dinner, shopping, and dancing. Different people like different things, of course, so you get a variety of people on the hall going to different events. On the whole, our events are pretty spontaneous... someone will walk down the hall and knock on doors and say, "hey! Wanna go to IHOP?" and everyone will gather 'round.
On the hall activities are even more popular (since it usually involves less total time, and time's at a premium at this school). Even during the busiest of days, we often gather for The Simpsons, or X-Files, or perhaps a movie rented from the East Campus desk. And don't forget to season this combination of distractions with card games, board games, Nintendo 64, or even old-fashioned conversation.
What about classes? As much as we try to pretend they don't occur, we all have to contend with them. And as much as we like 5west, we don't want to be here forever =). Academics are something that we're fundamentally here for, but we believe that being happy is a key element to academic success.
Curious what our hall looks like? We have a color-coded, annotated floor plan, and photos (coming soon). The floor plan will tell you about the mechanics of our hall-- who lives where, standard equipment, some of the housing policies, but mostly how all that fits together on a daily basis. Recommended reading!
Think you'd fit in? Ask yourself one question-- are you a friendly, sociable person? If so, then the answer is yes. If you're a quiet and introspective person, like a lot of people, you might find yourself to be more comfortable on a quieter and more introspective hall. Take rush as your opportunity to find it!