My first year away at university I had to live in the freshman dorm! It was a horrible experience, from top to bottom.
- As soon as the rules allowed it I moved off campus.
At that university, freshmen were required to live on campus, it was the rule, so I just suffered through it. So many smelly people were living in that dorm, and hardly any of us had any sense of propriety. People drank and partied and caroused in the hallways, it was extremely scandalous. Sophomore year I got two roommates, and we easily decorated our new place with classic elegance and nothing but handmade furniture. For the group of us, going antiquing is about as thrilling a weekend as the bunch of us could have, so the bunch of us would drive the distance looking for the coolest seasoned wooden furniture. If you look not just in antique stores but flea markets and junk shops you can find wooden furniture far better than anything you can find in a big box store. What I love the most about seasoned wooden furniture is how it gives myself and others a sense of connection to local history and culture! Perhaps you just see a set of wooden chairs, each a little different, even though I see the farmhand who built them on his own. I see what his life must have been like. Back then people created wooden furniture because there were no stores around to go to, and if you didn’t want to be sitting on the ground then you had to put together a strong chair! They are sturdy, strong, and in their own way, good-looking. This easily matched the classic elegance of myself and my roommates.