Image for All About Room Draw

With the end of the year fast approaching, summer break is on the minds of students at Occidental. Sure, we have finals next week but we’re so close! We made it! And after summer break comes…. Next year? I won’t lie, I am a little excited for next year, and one of the reasons I am so excited is due to where I will be living.

A few weeks ago, my friends and I went through room draw. There were a few options for us: triple room draw, normal room draw, or themed housing. For a lot of rising sophomores, which I am, Norris Hall is high in demand. It’s a themed living space where you live in shared quads. A lot of my friends went for this option, but I decided I didn't want to live with 8-16 people. That being said, I decided to go for a triple with my two best friends.

A little background on room draw: it’s a seniority based, random system. So each student is randomly given a number in each of their grades. Seniors draw first, then juniors, and then sophomores. I didn't have a great room number, but luckily one of my friends did! I knew that I probably wouldn't get a great room in normal room draw, but I could get a good triple [could you explain how triple room draw is different from normal room draw? Prospective students may not realize that they are separate]. My two best friends and I decided that we would all live well together so we decided to go for the triple!

We went to room draw straight from lacrosse practice and stood around waiting for our group to be called. We asked our friends who had already chosen rooms what residence hall they got. We groaned when our top choices got taken and jokingly heckled our friends who had picked them. When it came time for us to choose, we entered a room that had all the floorplans of the dorms on the wall. We looked at our options and settled on living in Haines. Our room has three windows and a great view of campus. Overall, we are really happy with our choice!

After my first-year experience of having a roommate I didn't love, I am so excited to be living with my two best friends. We already are picking out a couch and setting rules for the room. My first year was great, but my sophomore year is going to be even better!

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Collins House

1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA 90041