My Sophomore (now Freshmen) Housing: Webb Tower

So Freshman year, I had a great time living in Birnkrant, as many of my fellow VSAs did. Like Steve and Makana, I lived on BK4, the best place to live on campus (in my humble opinion of course). I haven’t visited Birnkrant since it became the honors dorm last year, but I’m sure it continues to be a fantastic place to live. Check out my blog on it from last year here. I get nostalgic just thinking about it…

However, my sophomore year (last year), I had the pleasure of living in Webb Tower. The good news for all of you is that Webb is now housing for freshmen. Before I get into my experiences there, I will provide some context about the style of living itself. Webb Tower is a 14 story apartment building located on the end of campus nearest to the University Village and directly across from the Lyon Center (the school’s gym). The units consist of 4 person apartments, with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. I had the pleasure of living on the 14th (actually 13th floor, but because 13 is unlucky it received a different name) floor. Not only did I receive major swag points for living in the Penthouse (the name for floors 14 and 15), but my apartment faced the beautiful Los Angeles skyline, thus giving me an amazing view. After long nights of studying and completing homework sets, it was always awesome to come home to the breathtaking views and all of the lights. It would have actually made quite the romantic spot, but I never took advantage of that attribute:)

View From our Living Room Window

Setting up for pancake tailgate in the kitchen!

Me and roommate Jessie the night she got her bid to ADPI:)

My roommate Cynthia in our living room, before we went out to dinner for Jessie’s birthday

I have nothing but good memories of that apartment. The kitchen storage was fantastic. The designers of this building did a good job optimizing space by combining the living area and the kitchen. I spent many long nights churning out homework in the living room and cooking dinner/snacks for my friends as we completed assignments. The space was just large enough to always fit us. The couch provided in the living room was also ridiculously comfortable (even though it didn’t look like it). My bedroom also came with a beautiful view of the LA skyline, which i really enjoyed falling asleep to. While at first I thought the two rods provided against a wall (aka a closet )would not provide adequate space, these once again served as spacious and efficient means for storage. I fit all my clothes onto them (with the help of some additional hanging storage), and I had a chest of drawers underneath my high bed. The room was small, but incredibly cozy. Plus, I had an amazing roommate in my friend Jessie. Jessie and I went to high school together, and when me and two of my girls from BK4 wanted a 4th person to fill our Webb apartment, I immediately pulled her in! I was sad when she left me to study in Spain in spring, but before that, we had a great run. She always took me to dinner at her sorority (she rushed that fall), came home with the best stories, acted as my “secretary” by reminding me when I had events to go to/medicine to take, playing dress up for me before events and soliciting my fashion advice, waking me up with Matt Nathanson, Bon Iver, etc. on Sunday mornings, going to the gym with me, sharing shoes, and cooking for me. Yes, I do love her. While we don’t live together anymore, we still have a blast when we hang out.

This apartment was the perfect place for entertaining. All of my friends loved it, inside and out. The location was perfect, and the inside was comfortable. It was always easy to get people to come to me:) Apartment 1403 is a “corner lot”, so noise was never an issue. For the first gameday of the season (which was ridiculously early that year), I hosted a pancake tailgate at the apartment. Jessie (my roommate) taught me how to make funfetti pancakes the night before, and that was the first real cooking I did in the place. The event was a huge hit, and our kitchen handled it well. Throughout the two hours we hosted in the morning, we had 30 or so people show up altogether.

Webb was an amazing experience as a sophomore, and I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t be a blast as a freshman. The RAs put on a lot of great programs, the option of having a kitchen coupled with a meal plan is so convenient (think baking birthday treats for friends), and the extra space in the form of the living room will make all your other friends jealous/will make them visit you often. If you are a socialite, or a super scholar who wants to host study parties, or all of these things, this is the place for you. Plus, the Cafe 84 dining hall is literally right next door. After you fill up at Cafe 84, you can then walk a few steps further to the gym to burn it all off:) And if that isn’t enough incentive to live in Webb, you can have all your cultural desires satisfied as well. The gorgeous cinematic arts buildings are across the sidewalk. This means you can casually leave for any movie screenings etc. you sign up for that are being hosted there a little bit later than others that live further away, or take advantage of the coffee bean and sweet study spots in SCA so easily!

I have nothing but love for Webb. It’s a gorgeous building in a great location, and I’m sure it will be filled with amazing people. Check it out as an option when it comes time to fill out the housing application. I unfortunately do not have too many pictures of it, but check out the housing webisode. The Webb apartment featured in the episode was actually mine:) The girl in the video was one of the sweet girls that moved in after two of my roommates went abroad in spring.

Best of luck in the housing search! If you have any questions, as usual please feel free to ask:)