A University Can Help You Get Back to the Land
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Film festivals, concerts and lectures are often free or
close to it and—when they do cost more than we want
to pay—we just amble over around intermission time
and still catch the last half free. Last year we took in a
complete series of Ingmar Bergman films—in
chronological order and with a short discussion following
each one—for 25¢ apiece. A whole cinema course,
worth more to us than many lecture courses we've taken, for
almost nothing! Auditing actual lectures can be interesting
and inexpensive also and, right now, we're taking a film
course designed and taught by the students themselves.
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Other activities? At vacation time, the ride board is
filled with names of people needing rides and riders and
it's easy to travel to almost any part of the country for
practically nothing. We can use the university swimming
pool for free, its sailboats for $1 an afternoon and its
tenting and camping equipment for $2 a night during the
week and $3 on weekends. By joining the camera club, we
have access to cameras and developing equipment
and—by simply showing an interest—we can use
campus craft equipment such as woodworking tools and hand
looms.
Virtually all these resources are within walking distance
of our apartment and, since we both walk to work, we use
our car very little. So—not only do we save on rent,
food and utilities—but on entertainment and
transportation, too!
The advantages of being a head resident are not merely
economic, however. By living here, we've also discovered a
world of intriguing ideas, new concepts and interesting
conversation. We've learned so much without having
to go through any academic hassles and pressures
and—when we do get the money to make our big move
(probably at the end of this school year)—some of the
ideas and friends that we've found here will be invaluable
to us.
OK, but what do we DO as head residents?
First, we live in a dorm of 175 upperclassmen (the easiest
type of dorm to handle since it's the freshmen who tend to
have the adjustment problems and need the most guidance)
and we relate to our independent guys almost entirely on an
equal friend-to-friend basis.
Second, our head resident "job" lasts only nine months a
year. During the summer (and shorter vacations too!) we're
free to live here on our own or take off, as we choose.
Third, during the nine months that the students
are here, we actually "work" very little except at
the beginning of each term. Then, we have to hand out room
keys on the day the students arrive and we meet with the
students on scholarship to decide who will work at what job
and at what hours.
