Honors Floors
Learning Communities

Student Insight into Living on Honors Floor:

"Congratulations! You have been selected to live on the freshman Honors floor." These were the words I read last summer after opening a letter from the University Housing Office. Congratulations. I thought it would be better if they just said, "Sorry, but the only place we could find room for you was with a bunch of nerds who have no social lives, love doing homework, hate having fun, and took their laptop computers to the senior prom." Right away, I pictured myself living in a place that made the library seem like a rock concert. What was the deal with living on a quit floor anyway? Did that mean I'd have to go around whispering all day and watching TV on mute? I envisioned having nothing in common with any of the guys on my floor. No one to talk with about sports, music, or girls. I had no idea what to expect when I found out I'd be living on an Honors floor. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad; maybe I was just overreacting, but I also thought that maybe I should go buy myself a pocket protector so I could "fit in."

However, what started out to be one of my greatest college fears quickly turned into one of my best college experiences. It hit me the first day that I moved into the dorms; the guys I was going to be living with weren't the stereotypical Honors students I had come to expect. They were really nice guys with so many common interests it was amazing, and as we talked more, it seemed that many of us had some of the same fears about living on an Honors floor. Right then I figured it out. People who would live on an Honors floor weren't the type who would sit in their rooms and study all day. They were the people who could juggle being good students along with playing sports, hanging out, having fun, and getting involved with the countless opportunities at The University of Iowa. These guys weren't the leftovers and the rejects; they were the cream of the crop--some of the best the university has to offer.

Thus far, my experience on the Honors floor has been a great one. The Honors Program and our floor government organize plenty of activities, such as barbecues, parties, and intramural sports teams to keep us busy. The atmosphere on the floor is great. There is always a place on the floor where you can go and study or read; on the other hand, there is always a place where you can go to hang out, listen to music, watch Seinfeld, play cards, or do anything any other college student would do. Living on a quit floor has turned out to be a good thing, too. It doesn't mean that you can't make any noise or play your music with the door open because you'll find this every day on our floor. Living on a quit floor simply means that you won't find people blasting their stereos and running through the halls screaming at 3:00 a.m. while you are trying to get some sleep.

So if you've been thinking about living on an Honors floor next year but aren't sure, why not give it a try? And if you haven't considered living on an Honors floor, you definitely should. It could be a great start to your year as well as a chance to experience some things that you might not be able to find on an ordinary dorm floor. By the way, if you do end up living on an Honors floor next year, do everyone a favor and leave the pocket protector at home!

- Drew Madden