Who lives in that small cluster of apartments on the corner of Deer Park Drive and Aumsville? Sometimes people don’t realize the community of residents living within the tiny apartment complex are actually students of Corban College.
So what is life like living on literally the farthest point from the hub of campus? Junior Kyrsten Withem says that it’s nice to have the independence and not being required to go to dorm meetings all the time, but she definitely feels secluded from campus life sometimes.
“I don’t know half the people at dinner,” she said. “I miss my old hall; it’s hard to maintain relationships with people that were in my hall last year.”
A lot of her friends from the past two years of her dorm life moved into the townhouses this year, but it is harder to stay in contact with them than she thought. “You’d think it would be easier to see them, but it’s not,” she said.
Most residents are juniors or seniors and hold steady jobs, play sports, are active in church activities or student-teach at local schools.
“They’re always gone,” said Withem.
Living in the townhouses is not only socially exclusive, but a bit inconvenient at times as well.
“You always have to have your keys,” said Withem.
If residents forget their keys, they don’t have a choice of 80 different people to call and let them in like they did in the dorms. Some residents end up camping out at a neighbor’s apartment until their roommate arrives from work to let them in.
Jessica Byrnes, a junior, said, “I live in the townhouses and there’s this long stretch of gravel pathway by the baseball field between Farrar and the townhouses.”
Residents sometimes call security for a ride from class because they don’t feel comfortable walking by themselves in the dark and in one of the only places on campus where someone might not hear you if you scream.
“There was this guy that seemed out of place this one night I was walking,” said Byrnes. “It was late and really dark out, and he was on that gravel pathway and kind of came out of nowhere. I didn’t really notice him until he was like ten feet in front of me. He came up to me and asked ‘Does the Turner bus stop here at 11?’ I was kind of creeped out.”
On foggy nights, walking on the path can be even sketchier when a person can’t see the townhouses in front of them or the nearest sign of human life behind them.
“It’s like the point-of-no-return and you have to keep on trudging along and hope no one will jump out,” Byrnes said jokingly. “I have to sing ‘Over the River and Through the Woods’ twenty times before I get to Farrar. Except I made up my own version that goes: ‘Over the gravel and past Farrar, and up to Schimmel I go! It’s a long walk, and so I can’t talk, and that’s all you need to know!’”
Nevertheless, life in the townhouses isn’t all inconvenience and creepy walks home. Students enjoy the perks of living one step farther from campus.
“I like the dorms but the townhouses offer more freedom and less obligations like sectionals and dorm meetings,” Byrnes said. “I’m able to cook for my friends and have guests over. Living in the townhouses has given me opportunities to share my talents and hospitality.”