By: Natalie Clark
Since graduating from McMaster in 2008, the Arkells have become one of Hamilton’s greatest accomplishments. “You write what you know,” mentions lead singer of the Arkells, Max Kerman, who accredits not only Hamilton, but McMaster, to the inspiration behind many of the band’s greatest hits.
“You write material based on your own life experiences; you’re trying to tell a story about a person, a friend, or someone you admire,” said Kerman.
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The multiple Juno-award winning band’s career began in Hamilton where Kerman met the other members of the band. Their band name was even inspired by one of Westdale’s own street name; Arkell Street. Their first gig was played at the annual Battle of the Bands at McMaster in spring of their first year and a few of their songs feature campus landmarks such as the Brandon Hall residence in “Where U Goin”.
The Arkell’s music video sets and album titles have included places beyond campus including Cheapies Records, Jackson Square and even a Hamilton Street Railway bus.
McMaster and Hamilton are clearly places that the band admire. For Kerman, the buildings we spend long hours studying in, the neighbourhoods we settle into and the downtown spots we find excitement in paint the setting of his coming of age story, despite winding up there for other reasons.
“I went to McMaster because my high school girlfriend who was older than me was already there in the year ahead of me… I wanted to go to a school that wasn’t near my parents’ house, and McMaster took me in,” said Kerman.
Kerman went on to graduate as a political science major and describes his passion for politics as stemming from his family.
“My mom is a high school teacher and my dad is a social worker, which are two very community-based jobs…because I had this in my house growing up, it makes you think about how you are a part of a bigger thing,” explained Kerman.
He described political science as constantly asking questions about how we understand and figure things out together and how we coexist in this world. His education informed the way he sees the world and Kerman often translates this passion for politics into the band’s lyrics.
The Arkells have had more than a few hits with political messaging including “Knocking at the Door” which is inspired by The Women’s March on Washington and their most recent single, “People’s Champ”, is a protest against American President Donald Trump.
The Arkells are making their way across Canada and the United States this February to tour their new album Rally Cry. Their most local show will take place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 16 with special guests Lord Huron.
“Getting the chance to play our new material is something we are most looking forward to, and when we were working on the songs in the studio, we were really thinking about how these songs would come off live,” mentioned Kerman.
The tour comes after their record-breaking show, The Rally, this past June at the Tim Horton’s Field. In true Arkells fashion, where better to have their biggest performance to date than in their hometown? As the Arkells continue to thrive, it’s exciting to see where their momentum will take them next.
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On Sept. 4, the City of Hamilton Planning Committee approved a zoning amendment application for a new two-storey Columbia International College student residence. This is the latest development in a project that stretches back four years.
The residence will be built on the corner of Main Street West and Longwood Road and consists of an 18-storey tower and a 16-storey tower building connected by a four-story podium. It will mainly serve as a residence, though it will have other commercial and recreational uses as well.
The developer, John Lecluse, is optimistic about the project going forward.
“We’re hoping to have quite a bit of ground moved a year from now,” said Lecluse.
The primary barrier to the project was a possible erosion hazard that could affect the Chedoke Creek valley system. However, the Hamilton Conservation Authority board gave their approval on the grounds that certain conditions are met.
The project parallels McMaster’s plans for a new residence on Main Street West, which began last year and is still in the planning stages. That building is planned to stand between Dalewood Avenue and Forsyth Avenue.
Some community concerns with the CIC project, such as increased car and foot traffic, increased noise, and the shadowing effect of tall buildings, have also been raised in light of McMaster’s proposal.
However, according to Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association president Ira Rosen, one of the key differences between the projects is that, unlike the McMaster building, which will stand over houses on Traymore Avenue, the CIC building is not directly next to homes.
“There are no houses that are going to be affected by those [CIC] buildings because it’s right at the corner of [Main Street West] and [Longwood Road S],” said Rosen. “The closest permanents live just across the street. It’s not the same as the location the university is planning. The university location is literally on a side street where there are houses.”
Gord Arbeau, McMaster director of communications, said that McMaster has recently amended the building design to try and address some issues with the previous design, including parking, available amenities activities and the increased flow of pedestrians. It is worth noting that the current design has 90 percent of the building at ten stories, lower than the originally proposed thirteen stories.
“We’re seeking more feedback,” said Arbeau. “We’ll be presenting the plan to the city and the city planners and we look to finalize and fine-tune that design in the next month or so, and then we would envision submitting another application to the city sometime thereafter.”
The university is hoping to begin construction next year and have the building open for August 2021.
The AWWCA will meet to discuss the latest changes to the McMaster proposal at their annual general meeting on Sept. 17. Rosen said they are hoping to find a middle ground with the university and are open to development as long as both parties can work together.
Those involved with the McMaster project plan to continue their consultations with community groups such as the AWWCA and attend regular meetings help by the president’s advisory committee on community relations.
While McMaster has no affiliation with CIC, Arbeau noted that, in both cases, there is increased development along Main Street West.
“I think what we’re seeing in Hamilton, especially with the [light rail transit], is a desire for the city to intensify development along lanes especially on Main Street, which is where the LRT will run,” said Arbeau.
As explained by Arbeau, both housing projects are being planned for with the potential construction of LRT in mind. LRT not only impacts the construction of new buildings because of the potential widening of Main Street West, but also represents a potentially more convenient way to commute across the city, especially for those close to Main Street West.
Both McMaster and CIC are hoping to alleviate student housing shortages by constructing large buildings along Main Street West, a trend that will likely continue across the city. The challenge for these plans will be to develop in a sustainable, responsible way that considers the perspectives of neighbouring communities.
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By: Tashy Davidson
McMaster is moving along with plans to build a residence just off the east end of campus, on Main Street West between Forsyth Avenue South and Dalewood Avenue.
Last year, McMaster owned only the section of land on the corner of Dalewood Avenue and Main Street West, but has since bought the rest of the block from scholar properties, so that they now own the full stretch from Dalewood Avenue to Forsyth Avenue and from Main Street West to Traymore Avenue.
“McMaster is a land-locked 300-acre campus and we’ve worked hard to find appropriate sites on campus for new buildings. … There is not a suitable site on campus for this kind of project,” said Gord Arbeau, director of communications at McMaster.
On a number of building projects, such as the extension of Ann Bourns Building and the Peter George Living and Learning Centre, the university has worked within its existing boundaries. But the proposed Main Street West residence would not.
The university recently began the site plan approval process with the city of Hamilton, where members of affected neighbourhood associations can voice their concerns. If McMaster’s proposal is approved, the next step will be to obtain a building permit from the city of Hamilton.
Right now, there is no set construction date since it depends on the outcome of the public consultation.
If approved, there will be two stages to the construction process.
Phase one would see the construction of a 12-storey, 950-bed residence on the corner of Main Street West and Forsyth Avenue.
Phase two would extend the building to Dalewood Avenue and include 450 beds, but its construction will depend on “demand and market conditions,” Arbeau explained.
Either way, the 950- or 1,400-bed residence would become part of McMaster’s on-campus residence system, operating under the same policies and regulations and offering the same programming and services as other residences.
In addition to the proposal for the Main Street residence, McMaster has already begun construction of the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, which will hold 500 beds and open Sept. 2019.
Between the academic years 2004-2005 and 2012-2013, full-time undergraduate and graduate student enrolment increased 28 per cent.
These new beds will help to satisfy increasing demand for on-campus housing. With a current total of 3,578 beds, McMaster “cannot guarantee a residence spot for first year students,” said Arbeau.
As a result, McMaster guarantees residence only to incoming undergraduate students with a high school average of at least 83.5 per cent. According to admissions data from 2016, that would leave about 15 per cent of first-year students having to find a home off-campus.
In one way or another, many Ontario universities involve high school grades in the residence application process. For some it is a matter of a room guarantee, while others give those with higher averages priority in selecting a residence.
For example, some college residences at the University of Toronto base their acceptance decisions on high school grade averages. The higher the demand for a residence, the higher one’s grade average must be to get into it.
McMaster faces the question of how it should fill its existing space while it works on providing more beds. All universities have to make decisions about how to fill their residence spaces, and some choose to put into use the same hierarchy used in admissions.
Either way, organizations such as the Society of Off Campus Students have an important social role to fill during this waiting period, especially when it comes to integrating first-year students living off-campus.
Bordered by Cootes Paradise and residential streets, McMaster has a lot to keep in mind as its student population grows, and as its infrastructure grows in turn.
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McMaster Housing and Conference Services recently announced its proposal to redevelop Bates residence.
According to Kevin Beatty, the director of Housing and Conference Services, all of the internal aspects of Bates residence, such as room configurations, common rooms and amenities, will be redeveloped. Students can look forward to enjoying increased natural light and improved amenities, such as a games room, gym and music room.
“Adding expansive exterior windows and removing large sections of the ground and second floor plate will infuse the building with natural light and activate the basement level while celebrating the beautiful views surrounding,” said Chelsea Alexander, one of the architects of the project.
Nevertheless, Bates Residence’s structural foundation will remain.
“We are eager to create a harmonized Bates residence community, full of opportunities for social interaction, enjoyment and educational advancement within an extensive 1970s shell,” said Alexander.
The redevelopment project is in the design phase. Although the final construction timeline has yet to be solidified, Beatty has confirmed that the redevelopment will not begin until after the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning opens in Aug. 2019.
Students with an average of 83.5 per cent or higher are guaranteed a place in residence on campus. After securing a spot in residence, students are entered into a lottery that determines what room style they get placed in.
Since Bates is currently the only apartment style residence on campus, closing it during the construction phase may have repercussions for students. It is unclear how the renovations will affect the number of residence spots available to students.
“Housing and Conference Services is committed to continuing to keep students and the university community updated when more details are finalized over the next few months,” said Beatty.
According to Alexander, the Bates residence redevelopment will solve the current building’s most pressing accessibility problems.
In particular, the new building is slated to improve navigation through washroom facilities, doorways and narrow corridors. The new Bates building will also be AODA compliant, consisting of improvements such as accessible suites and auto-door operators.
“Accessibility to all building amenities and spaces have been of critical importance since the onset of the redevelopment discussions,” said Alexander.
Students can share their feedback on the McMaster Housing and Conference Services website until Feb. 12.
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By: Adrianna Michell
While living on residence for the first time, I had come to think of on-campus housing as a rite of passage for university students. I thought of communal bathrooms, the inevitable roommate conflicts and the disappointing dining hall foods.
I anticipated these to be an unavoidable part of residence living. However, despite my generally low expectations of the conditions of campus living, I was shocked by the lack of foresight in McMaster’s residences and the daily functions that come with housing thousands of students.
Given the number of students living in residence, McMaster cannot afford to ignore the reckless and unsustainable waste practices on campus.
The potential impact of creating a sustainable waste reduction process is great, as McMaster is known to house almost 3,600 students in 12 buildings.
In lacking a responsible and effective waste reduction policy, the university has failed students. McMaster has left gaps in residence students’ education. Adequate waste removal and sorting services are not available to students; Mac’s environmental education policies point the finger at students.
The culture of disposability that pervades on-campus housing is apparent in both the personal choices of residents and the administration’s lack of policy. Dining halls are littered with students eating in disposable containers. Reusable cutlery is hard to come by, and correct waste receptacles are difficult to distinguish. There is little incentive for students to implement waste reduction practices, as hospitality services does not seem to be prepared for such regulations.
Given the number of students living in residence, McMaster cannot afford to ignore the reckless and unsustainable waste practices on campus.
According to the most recent Waste Reduction Work Plan created in 2015, the university hoped to expand compost and increase sustainable packaging.
The waste audit leaves something to be desired as most recyclable products have no waste reduction plan in place, the only goal being to “continue to recycle.” One goal was to include recycling bins in washrooms, which, as any student can attest to, has not happened in residences.
In the 2016 Sustainability Annual Report, one objective is to increase the amount of waste diverted from landfills. However, reducing this number is only a quick fix for a larger, systemic problem. A near 20 per cent increase in waste diversion sounds good, but it fails to account for the amount of waste produced that could have been avoided in the first place.
McMaster’s sustainability policies broadly ignore the root causes of issues and put the onus on students and individuals, rather than taking accountability for institutional actions.
“Awareness raising” policies have been implemented across campus, from educational materials to ever-changing signage on waste receptacles; using passive tactics that do not have any measurable goals makes the university look better without doing much. No matter how many people look at a poster or recycle their plastic, the real problem is being ignored.
In residence, the problem of waste production is daunting. There are no compost bins in residence. While student groups have had success in getting green bins in the student centre, no such initiatives have taken place in residence, nor should there be. It should be the responsibility of the University to establish composting facilities in residences, not individual students.
Dining halls do participate in a program where reusable Eco-Takeout containers are provided. Students pay a one-time fee of $5 to get into the program, and then can use the green containers for their food. This program does not seem to be widely used, as a quick walk through Centro will show that most students do not participate in the program, evidenced by their lack of green plastic containers.
The Eco-Takeout box also repeats the mistakes of other initiatives, placing all of the responsibility on the student with little incentive or reward. The containers are small and tend to be stained from time spent sitting in student’s rooms.
Residences have the potential to be a laboratory for innovative sustainability practices at McMaster, but are instead areas of immense waste production.
Looking toward solutions, McGill University seems to succeed where Mac has not, as they have successfully implemented composting in its residences, and has tried to “build a culture of composting” at the university.
Raising awareness about composting will not make sustainable, impactful change. The university needs to create policies that take responsibility for waste, and residences are the perfect place to start.
The original image used online for this article was uploaded without the subject's consent, and has been taken down.
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The beginning of June is an exciting time for Grade 12 students in Ontario. The first of the month marks the final day they are able to accept an offer to a university program and the beginning of the end of high school starts to feel real.
For future Marauders, June 1 is also the deadline for applying to residence. Students with academic averages above a certain point, 83.33 per cent for the 2017-18 school year, are guaranteed a spot in on-campus accommodation for their first year. Those with averages below this point are also welcome to apply. They are not assured a place in residence and may spend a large portion of the summer before beginning university in housing limbo: unsure of whether or not to sign a lease or take a gamble that they will make it to the top of the residence waiting list.
There are several reasons why this is a poor, outdated system, but many of these shortcomings are intertwined.
In order for these initiatives to have some gravitas on campus, the university needs to acknowledge, right from the beginning of a student’s first year, that they are worth more to McMaster as an institution than a student number and a grade point average.
As instances of mental illness and stress levels related to academics continue to rise, slogans about how students are more than their academic performance appear in support spaces from online communities to campus services. Multiple McMaster Students Union services, including the Student Health Education Centre and MSU Spark, lead initiatives that encourage students to have a balanced lifestyle that includes schoolwork, but not at the exclusion of everything else.
Currently, McMaster sends the opposite message for the arts faculties, Humanities and Social Sciences, along with Biotechnology and Process Automation. These are the only first year programs that admit students with academic averages below the 83.33 required for guaranteed residence. Other programs have acceptance averages around the residence cutoff, but none are clearly below that point.
For reference, Humanities and Social Sciences require a 75 per cent average. Process Automation and Biotechnology each require a 78. These are completely respectable averages that students need to work hard to achieve.
By granting these students admission, but not guaranteeing them residence, the university sends the message that it values these students, but not as much as someone with a slightly higher GPA. For arts students, this message coupled with the newly opened L.R. Wilson Hall and the revamping of the Faculty of Humanities brand sends a confusing message to incoming students about how much McMaster actually cares about what they have to offer the campus community.
This system of “who’s-in-who’s-out” of residence can be equally uncomfortable for those relatively few first-year students from these programs who do end up in on-campus housing. I lived in Les Prince Hall in my first year, and I think I can name almost all the other arts students in my building. In a building of almost 400 students, there were that few of us. It was one of the reasons I was never comfortable in residence, and if I could do my first year over knowing that I would be one of so few Humanities I students in my residence, I would likely have considered other options more carefully.
Basing a first year's projected university success on their high school marks is about as relevant to their deservingness of a residence space as household income.
The structures of high school and university education are different. Students who flourished in high school may burn out in university, while those with less impressive averages may flourish in the post-secondary environment. Basing a first year’s projected university success on their high school marks is about as relevant to their deservingness of a residence space as household income.
The irksome thing about McMaster’s current residence admission policy is how easy it is to fix. Currently, McMaster cannot guarantee every interested student a spot in residence; something the university is working on with the construction of the Living Learning Centre and other residence initiatives.
Until then, instead of having an entire system based on high school GPA, all incoming first years interested in residence could be entered in a lottery for residence space. If the university wanted to continue some kind of “reward” for students with higher averages, they could be guaranteed their first or second choice room style.
High school students should be rewarded for the hard work they put into their final year of studies prior to post-secondary education. But none should feel like their admission to McMaster has less merit than someone else’s.
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Two thirds of the way through the school year, the last thing on many students’ minds is their living situation. Between midterms, final exams and group meetings, students, especially those in residence, begin to see their rooms as a place to get a few hours of sleep before racing through another day. Unfortunately, some residence rooms are dealing with new, unwanted roommates.
For the past few months, Whidden Hall, a residence in the North Quad of campus, has been contending with an outbreak of bedbugs. Once associated with squalor, bedbugs have become a common pest in recent years, with discoveries of their presence in hotels, movie theatres and on public transit.
For this reason, Kevin Beatty, McMaster’s Director of Housing and Conference Services, is reluctant to call the recent outbreak a problem. “We typically see bedbugs over the course of the year. It's not uncommon to see them. But what is uncommon in this situation is that there seems to be a bit of a flare-up,” he said. He added that while the current bout has been present in Whidden for a few months, the treatment plan was put in place fairly soon after. “We have a comprehensive bedbug response plan in residence,” he said.
According to Beatty, all Community Advisors in residence are trained in how to deal with the reporting of bedbugs. Within 24 hours of a report being issued, pest control is brought in. “If the pest control company has something called proof of pests, so an actual bedbug or some trace that it exists, then they would take the next steps which would be working with the students to execute the treatment plan.”
This treatment plan involves students washing their bed sheets, clothing and other personal effects in biodegradable plastic bags, which help heat the objects in the washing machine, a process that kills the bedbugs. Pest control also treats the room in question, and comes in 14 days later to re-treat it.
While the initial reaction to the discovery of bugs may be to move to a different location, Beatty explained that this is not an ideal procedure. He said that if students are not present in their environment, the bugs will remain inactive. “The other reason is that you don't want people to move because one of the challenging aspects of bedbugs is that they're distributed in social networks ... that's why we advise students not to go home and why we don't move them.”
At the time that spoke with Beatty, the flare-up was isolated in Whidden. Since then, reports suggest the issue has spread to Bates Residence in the University’s West Quad, but Beatty could not be reached for further comment.
“We typically see bedbugs over the course of the year ... But what is uncommon in this situation is that there seems to be a bit of a flare-up."
For his part, Beatty remains optimistic about the “flare-up” being taken care of quickly and without fanfare. “We're lucky that residence students are quick to identify which allows us to be quick to respond,” he said.
Photo Credit: Jon White/ Photo Editor
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Julia Busatto
The Silhouette
If you’re a Mac student (which I assume most of you are), you’re either living at home, in residence, or off campus. Yet regardless of your living situation, there is one thing that is nearly impossible to avoid: your neighbors.
I find neighbors encompass one of three key categories: the good, the bad or the ugly. Let’s not be pessimists, and begin with the “good” neighbors with whom you should befriend.
How do you tell if you have good neighbors? Well for a start, they probably invite you to their parties, open their beer stocked fridges for you, and tell you to take whatever you’d like. Or how about the neighbors who don’t say anything when they see the girl from last night sneak down the hall the next morning.
The “good” neighbors turn a blind eye to things they just weren’t supposed to see, are generous with their possessions, direct the pizza guy right to your place, and maybe even act as a cuddle buddy from time to time (if that’s what you’re looking for).
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the “bad” neighbors, which can be separated into various degrees of nastiness dependent upon your discretion, and are best to avoid. They call the cops on your intoxicated friend who was just in the middle of her eerily realistic rendition of Wrecking Ball, watch everything you do with judging glares, and tell your parents the somewhat less notable stories about you when your monthly delivery of Kraft Dinner comes in.
The bad neighbors rightfully believe they own the whole block, the whole floor, and, essentially, your whole life. I’m sure we’ve all encountered them at some point, and they’re certainly not the angels they try to appear to be. They park in your parking space, steal your Wi-Fi and complain about even the slightest squeak of noise after 9 p.m. despite their own music has been seeping through the walls the whole time. In conclusion, it is definitely best to avoid these neighbors, because neither friendship nor mutual agreement is an option. Any friendly relation is a lost cause, so just abandon the ship now.
Last but not least are the “ugly” neighbors. The ugly neighbors are not esthetically ugly, but habitually ugly. When it comes to creatures of foul habit, it is best to proceed with caution. They tend to leave garbage sitting out for so long that the smell eventually wafts in through your window, and bang on your door at 5 a.m. to tell you about something they found really, really, *hiccup*, really, hilarious. Not to mention they invite themselves over way too often to be considered a spontaneous surprise. You don’t have the heart to tell them to leave your house, especially to stop coming over for their favourite “movie nights” where they happen to forget to bring the movie and treats each and every time.
The “ugly” neighbors play dubstep obnoxiously loud in the hopes to convert you to their superior music taste. They’re hopelessly inconsiderate, but blissfully unaware they’re doing anything wrong. After all, they’re just having fun, right? They ward off neighborhood wildlife with BB guns, thinking it’s objectively hilarious to torment squirrels. But no matter how riled up you may get with these folks, it is best to proceed with caution because you do not want to hurt their feelings. They may be so upset that they actually never end up leaving their house, stuck in a wallowing party that not even the loudest of dubstep music can revive them from, and consequently the old lettuce smell and ear-bleeding house music will become a permanent part of your life.
Whatever your neighbor situation is, remember these neighbor profiles. Good or bad neighbors can influence how you live, your experience here at McMaster, and your life beyond graduation too. Neighborly love is on the decline, with fewer street BBQ’s and friendly neighbor introductions. Most people tend to stick to themselves, as opposed to socializing with those that live around them. Ultimately, however you decide to proceed with your neighbors, just remember this note of optimism: everyone moves eventually, right?
You may not know it right now, but I guarantee that the eight short months that lie ahead of you in residence will be the most exciting, bizarre, confusing, whirlwind months of your sweet young life. You’re probably entering into it with a long list of expectations and cautionary tales of what you want to happen (make friends, get laid) and what you want to avoid (fail out, never get laid). The advice you’ll have heard most is, “make the most of your first year,” and it’s true. But “making the most of it” is not usually defined by the advice I’m about to give. I’m about to tell you to do the opposite of what you’d assume, and I mean it with every fiber of my nostalgic, upper-year being.
Gain the ‘Freshman 15’
No, seriously. Get hefty. Never again will you have such endless pre-paid, pre-cooked meal options at your fingertips. Embrace it with a full heart and a ready stomach. Yes, soon the photo on your student card will seem to glare at you with disapproval as you purchase yet another buffalo chicken wrap with extra cheese, flaunting how thin your face used to look. It will become hard to remember a time when your cheekbones were that prominent. Power through and keep eating. The weight will fall off in the summer, and come next September, you’ll resent all the first-years with their crisp new student cards and mourn the days when that fourth slice of pizza was just a swipe away.
Commit floorcest
Ok, I admit, this can get a little messy. It’s with your best interests in mind that your CA, your friends and every first-year survival handbook out there warns against getting romantically – or, let’s face it, just sexually – entangled with your next-door neighbours. There is nothing more awkward than having to live the next eight months on the same floor as a jilted, hormonal teen whose heart you may have just broken after a drunken, Welcome Week hookup. This is not the scenario I’m encouraging. Rather, when months have passed, friendships have comfortably settled on your floor in residence and you’re still longingly eyeing that girl or guy down the hall, don’t be afraid to rock the boat. Risk jeopardizing your close, cozy but unsatisfying friendship by initiating something more. Yeah, it might turn out to be uncomfortable, but it also might end up being the greatest leap you ever took. Trust me on that one.
Don’t be besties with your roommate
This can go one of two ways: either you came to Mac with your best friend from high school and are sharing a room in residence, or you were randomly paired with a stranger who instantly becomes your best friend. While it’s comforting to have a close friend help you make the transition from high school to university, it can also be socially limiting if (or should I say when) you rely on each other too much and don’t make the effort to meet other people on your floor or in your building. I can almost guarantee you will have a pair of such high school besties – usually girls – on your floor who are reclusive, exclusive and unintentionally unfriendly. They won’t even notice how, month after month of turning down invitations to hang-out/go-out/make-out, those invitations peter out and eventually stop coming, yet they’ll be confused and hurt come second year when they realize they don’t have very many friends. It’s an easy trap. Don’t be them.
So go forth, young froshies, and make the most of the eight months that lie before you in the North or West quads. Eat that extra slice of cake at East Meets West; knock on that cute ginger guy’s door on the fourth floor of Les Prince; venture outside of your suite in Bates. Do everything I did – and more.
