Meet Jen Shoemaker ‘08, an organizational communication major from Apalachin, NY. Those of you who were at reunion this summer may remember her; she was driving folks around in golf carts (and also owning the dance floor with a few of our more rhythmically talented alumni).
Many of you have asked what the new dorm rooms in Ball look like, and Jen was kind enough to put her room in the spotlight for us.
And now for an interview with Jen, our wonderful hostess:
Jen, your room seems so clean; do you actually live in it? Is this typical of college students in the 21st century?
Well, yeah I live in it. I’m just very organized, I like it clean … a clean room is a happy room, you know. I would say it’s definitely not typical of other students.
How many other people do you share your room with? Is the new space cramped at all?
I share it with two of my friends, and our room is pretty well spaced out, I’d say. The new closet space is really nice. When I lived in Ball before, it was dirty–which drove me nuts–the furniture didn’t match, and each room was a completely different size. Some people were in a room that was literally the size of a closet; I was lucky to be in a room that was the size of the alumni lounge … it didn’t make much sense or seem fair. The new rooms are a breath of fresh air.
There’s still some construction going on around Ball. How much of that do you hear in your room?
They’re still working on landscaping outside and laying down the new sidewalks, so there’s a lot of noise — especially when they’re breaking the sidewalks up. As far as the noise in the morning, it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be — we can at least sleep until 6:30 or 7, ha-ha.
Anything else you’d like to share with the world? This is going on the Internet, you know. The world may be reading … but hey, no pressure.
I definitely feel lucky to live in Ball Hall, especially during the construction while history is being made. In the summer, it’s really great because of the air conditioning; it’s been nice and warm in there this fall, too. The heaters are brand new, so they work.
Okay, last question: Halloween was a few days ago. Any run-ins with George?
I haven’t had any run-ins with the alleged Ball Hall ghost, but my dad has. He was alone in the elevator and heard a male voice say “go for it” three times. To this day, he still won’t go in the elevator.
Wow.. what a wonderful view to have outside your DORM room window. I wish that we had views like this where I went to school. Sounds like the new rooms are going to be great for future students.
JEN…..Love your room Roughly how big is your room?
My first room was like a large closet witha window. After winter field period my roomate didn’t return….I had the coice of moving in with another Ball girl or take a transfer student. I opted for the known over the unknown.
The room was a nice size L shaped room…right up against the elevator.
My 2nd Ball room woas wonderful……a two room suite that were usually used by 3 students… As upperclass we could have it as a double. All of the rooms in Ball had sinks”’so we could wash our face and brush our teeth without waiting in line.
We loved that old building….Helen
I live in a quad with 3 other girls and i love the new ball renovation. Although I am just a sophomore, and have only lived in Ball for my first time, i can definitely say it is worth the money. The room is spacious even with four girls in it, and i love the new carpeting and new furniture-it all goes well together! The bathrooms, laundry and lounge on each floor also add the right touch to a perfect environment-and not to mention the AC and heater!! Ball is a great-and by far the best residence hall on campus!
Toria,
You commented on the wonderful view I have from my window, and that is so true! I use to have a really hard time getting up in the morning, however since the renovations I actually look forward to the moment the sunrises because it is the most beautiful sight to watch the sun come up over the lake! I really do consider myself very lucky to have this amazing view each morning, right from my bed!
~Jen~
Helen,
Your description of the origional ball hall rooms was very interesting! It sounds like you really lucked out after you moved out of your closet sized room and into the “L” shaped room, what a relief! Last year my room hadn’t been renovated and that room was about the size of a walk in closet. However, this years room is very spacious, well layed out and comfortable. With three of us in there we feel very comfortable and we even had left over space which we have turned into a living room! I must say though, as nice as the renovations are, it would be an awesome advantage to have a sink in the room, as you did while living in ball hall, what a wonderful advantage that must have been! While we dont have sinks in the room, the renovated bathrooms are very impressive so I guess that makes up for our lack of the sink!
Anna,
I 100% agree with you on the perfect environment in ball hall! I consider myself very lucky to enjoy having the laundry, bathrooms, lounge, kitchen and trash room all on each floor. I also feel very fortunate that I was able to enjoy the new ball hall before I graduate this May, I must say though, I really will miss ball hall. I think it will be impossible to match these conditions when apartment shopping next year! You are very luck to have these brand new rooms and facilities to enjoy for the next two years, hopefully this year you were able to obtain a lake view room, if not I strongly suggest you try hard for it next year, it is amazing! Best luck and enjoy!
The rooms look great, I am really impressed. I lived in Ball Hall one summer while working in the Publicity office for a field period. When I lived there it was in really rough shape…there were no screens on the windows so we were constantly getting bats in the bathrooms and hallways–which the guys, in full lacrosse gear, would try to eliminate. None of the furniture matched and the rooms were pretty dingy and run down and they had closed the elevator due to it being unsafe, I always felt bad for the people who lived on fourth floor and had to carry their stuff all the way up there, I was on third. We had a lot of fun…it was the party dorm back in those days…but I am glad to see that you guys no longer have all that to deal with. I also remember the ghost stories from Ball and actually had a few friends that had some odd things happen in there. One had electronics that kept coming on by themselves in her room at night, and she was an RA. I had the opportunity to live in Saunders, Space, Davis, Ball, and then Richardson. Those were the renovations that went on while I was there and I was so lucky to win the lottery to get into a room at Richardson my junior year with the private bathrooms and new rooms. I was in a triple for my last two years and enjoyed having the extra space for a living room adjacent to the sleeping area. I am happy to see that Keuka is still doing great things and is still being enjoyed. Good luck to all of you.
Jen,
Your room looks great! Better than my room in my actual HOUSE! I want to go back to school, life was simple, someone else did all the cooking, I was young and thin(er)!
What floor are you on?
Take care and see you hopefully in June!
Barb from the reunion
Hey Jen!
You’re room is terrific…I was one of the “closet dwellers” my senior year (class of ‘82).
We spent time with you this summer at reunion (although you can tell from the reunion photo album)
How did your field period go? Did our pal Mark come through for you?
I heard through another student that there was a massive malfunction with the sprinkler system in Ball Hall. I hope that it wasn’t too exstensive.
Would love to hear from you! Good Luck with the rest of your time a Keuka. Do they still celebrate “100 days?”
Wendy “Tillie” Means
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Duff.