When I tell people that I live in Dupre Hall, the response is usually a face of pity or a sigh of sympathy. Dupre does not have a good reputation on campus. This could be because of the sizes of the bathrooms or of the single rooms, but people who give Dupre bad press clearly never lived in the building during their time at Macalester. I think that living in Dupre is overall the optimal situation for a first year while adjusting to college life.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier columns, I think that the floor community of Dupre is unbeatable when compared to that of the other first-year buildings. Most of my closest friends live on my floor. I became very close with my floor mates very quickly because I saw them so often. I think that the structure of Dupre itself helps with meeting people and keeping up with friends. The staircase is right in the middle of the building, so when I arrive on my floor I am right in front of the lounge. As a result, if I see some friends in the lounge when I’m on my way back to my room, I can stop by and say “hi” or (try to) get some work done. There’s no effort required in finding people to hang out with—they’re always there from the minute I arrive on my floor. The lounges in Doty and Turck aren’t as accessible from the staircases, so there isn’t a centralized hang-out spot in these buildings like there is in Dupre. Furthermore, because of the size of Dupre itself and the sheer amount of students who live in the building, I get to meet a lot of people. I often meet new people on an elevator ride up to the fourth floor or on the way up or down the stairs. Because there are so many people around Dupre every day, it’s not difficult to run into people I know or to meet new people whenever I leave my room. Because of this fact, my social adjustment to college has been smoother than I initially expected it to be.

Dupre also has the best views from its rooms. My window looks out onto Summit Ave. I love looking out over the beautiful houses, tree branches and snowy medians. In my room, I can turn away from the happenings of campus life and see Macalester’s quiet surrounding neighborhood. Some of the rooms across the hall look out on the residential quad and have views of the entirety of campus, which is equally as beautiful as the view from my side of the hall. Turck and Doty don’t border Summit Ave. as closely as Dupre does, so the views from their windows are generally not as aesthetically pleasing as those from Dupre windows.

Puns referring to Dupre as a Duprison or the Duprojects are funny, and I’ve used them from time to time (for example, when only one of the three lights in the bathroom turned on when I flipped the light switch). But, at least for me, these terms are only used as a form of endearment. It would be more accurate to refer to my building as a Duparadise, and this Duprincess wouldn’t trade her living situation for anything else.