Things I’ve learned as an LSA student on North Campus

Imagine the horror – as a freshman in LSA (or any college not based on North), you are assigned to live on North Campus. You’ve only heard the worst of the place, including that it’s so far away from everything on campus and that the buses suck among other tragic characteristics. Heck, even most of the students whose schools are based on North try to avoid the residence halls on North Campus like they’re the plague.

As a freshman in LSA, I was assigned to live in Bursley, and unlike most other people in the same boat, I tried going in with as much of an open mind as I could given all of the bad things I had heard about it. This initial open-mindedness was probably the single most important factor of my enjoyment of my time on North – I have grown to love Bursley and my memories in the residence hall. My freshman year dorm and the people that I met as a result will be things I remember for the rest of my life and keeping an open mind going into my freshman year is what allowed me to make the most of a not-so-ideal situation.

You’ll get used to the bus system

One good thing that comes out of the buses – great yaks

Like everyone else who lives on North or travels between campuses often, I have a love/hate relationship with the buses. It takes time to get used to them and to get to know the bus schedule, but knowing how the buses work is much better than seeing the people who evidently have never been on a blue bus before try to figure out where on campus they are and what the yellow cord is for.

The fact that the buses even have to exist is often a con, but it has led to so many late-night adventures that helped define my freshman year. People often worried about how the buses don’t run after a certain time each day, but the reality was that it’s fairly easy to make arrangements with friends on Central, and it usually doesn’t even come down to that as long as you make some sort of effort to keep track of time.

You’ll find less-crowded study spots

Not only was my view one of a dumpster, but it was also basically underground

North Campus is home to so many buildings that many LSA students will never see or be in because they’re separated by a bus ride. It’s a whole new land – one that we usually have to ourselves as we’re the only ones willing to make the trek back to North, whether it be to the Dude or elsewhere. Knowing the buildings on North opens up so many more study areas that aren’t as crowded as you know the UGLi is always going to be.

There are UM students who will rarely or never visit North Campus, and they’re missing out. Even as a student living on North Campus, it took me a long time to figure out which building was which on North, and some students will never figure that out. Unlike most of the buildings on Central, a lot of the buildings on the North Campus Diag (which doesn’t even truly exist thanks to the never-ending construction) are connected, meaning that there’s no need to brave the cold in the winter to get from one building to the next.

This being said, a lot of the buildings on North have managed to be built on a hill, which can be troublesome when you’re trying to exit a building and can’t figure out what the ground floor is.

North Campus is what you make of it

Accurate representation of how we felt when we realized how little time we had left to live on North

If you go into living on North already hating it, chances are that nothing will change the way you feel. North Campus is what you make of it since you’ll be surrounded by freshmen who are in the same place as you. There’s also more diversity as to which colleges within UM the residents are from – we’ve grown accustomed to hearing the SMTD students sing in the elevator lobby day in and day out, and we’ve learned how hard engineers actually have it at this amazing institution.

Since Bursley is the largest residence hall on campus, there will always be someone who wants to do the same thing as you do, which opens doors to so many new opportunities that you may not have seen coming. Bursley was a great place to meet so many people and bond with them on so many different levels, including our initial annoyances at being LSA students on North. Because of the different vibes in a large residence hall made up primarily of freshmen, I’ve grown to love North throughout this year so much.

If I were to redo my freshman year, I would still choose to live on North.