New North Is Awesome

Freshmen year I was deciding between Birnkrant and New North. My mom wanted me to live in the honors dorm, but I decided to got with New North based on the reputation this was the “social” dorm. I was not ready for what I would experience, but it was one of the best decisions I made since I’ve been at USC. New North has this reputation of being the social dorm where a lot of the people who are interested in Greek life decide to live. While a lot of my friends from New North were in Greek, my roommate and I along with a couple others weren’t and I got the same experience. The first week of school was a lot of fun because everyone was from all over the country and were ready to just meet everyone. Everyone wanted to talk to everyone and you could walk up to anyone and just start a conversation. I was meeting people from all over  California, Illinois, Washington, New York, Florida, Texas and literally every other state. They all had different accents and had different experiences growing up that made you want to compare with how you were raised. People from other dorms would come to enjoy this social atmosphere. You would meet people and ask them what floor they live on and they would respond “Oh I don’t live in New North. I am here to hangout with some friends.” By the end of the year, I knew most people in the building or at least, they were a friend of a friend. The overall atmosphere of the building was so energetic and social, which I loved, but the reason I loved New North was based on my hallway.

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My hallway was so connected. My roommate from Freshmen year is still my roommate in my Junior year. When my roommate celebrated his birthday, a majority of our hallway and friends from New North were there to celebrate his 21st. I just celebrated my friend’s birthday last week who lived two doors down. When it was someones birthday in the hallway, everyone was ready to have a fun night. People would make sure their homework was done ahead of time to make sure that they could celebrate along with everyone else.    My hallway was always hanging out in each others rooms and became so close that I wouldn’t lock my door; nothing was stolen that year either, but sometimes my roommate and  I would wake up to people using my his printer. There was always someone down to hangout no matter how early or late you were up. New North was a lot of fun and gave me that iconic freshmen experience that welcomed me into a new environment.

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While New North was mostly plusses, as an engineer, it did have its shortcomings. There weren’t as many engineers on my floor as other majors. While there wasn’t an engineering dorm, engineering wasn’t as popular as other dorms. Engineering wasn’t as popular, but as a freshmen, you still take the same general and prerequisite classes as a lot of other people in the building. Being an engineer takes more time than any school work you face in high school, so sometimes others will be having fun when you need to study. Luckily, New North had quiet rooms, and Leavey and Doheny library were not far away. These problems weren’t a frequent occurrence, but it is something to consider when making your decision. Overall, I loved New North and wouldn’t have picked a different dorm. I met some of my closest friends in this building and have some of my best USC memories in this dorm. New North is an exciting place that is very social. If you are looking to meet a lot of people and want to be surrounded by a lot of outgoing people, I would definitely suggest living here. It will make you become a more social people and help you create a lot of relationships that will last through the years.