The Final Goodbye

One night, some of the residents of Calvert first and second decided to take a spontaneous study break at 1 a.m. We loaded up in a couple of cars to drive to a remote spot to witness the upcoming meteor shower. Our remote spot ended up turning into a Wal-Mart parking lot and we camped out for a couple of hours to watch the sky. Despite the freezing weather, it was an exciting experience and we saw a couple of meteors. Afterwards, we headed to IHOP for breakfast before returning to campus at 3:30. We all had a great time with the exception of those of us that had 8:30 class that morning.

In other news, this Sunday, the Residential Mentors of Calvert are holding a mixer for all Calvert residents. This is an opportunity to get to know everyone in our dorm “s’more” as we roast marshmallows and make delicious snacks. The slogan for the event is “S’mores not Wars” in order to resolve our differences and stop the civil war between second and third floor.

As you may know, this is the final blog for “Life in Calvert.” From day one, it’s been pretty obvious that Calvert is the place to be for a first year at Trinity. From going on outings with the hall to running around campus naked, we take pride in the dorm we now call home.

This summer, Calvert is going to be renovated. This means that the upcoming first years will know Calvert as one of the nicest dorms on campus. However, us Calveratians of the class of 2013 will know better and will carry the memories from Calvert in our hearts forever, or at least until sophomore year.

Calvert Ghosts

On October 31^st, 2009 around 9 p.m. the residents of Calvert continued the Trinity tradition by participating in Calvert ghosts. The tradition has been going on for years and we felt like we were a part of something big. The history of Calvert ghosts began on Halloween night when the third floor boys covered themselves in flour and ran around campus naked. Ever since this epic event, Calvert is constantly identified with the legendary third floor boys. As soon as people discover you are a resident of Calvert, the first question is “Are you going to do Calvert ghosts?'

Times have changed since the original Calvert ghosts. It is now a co-ed event and one of the girls on Calvert first is the one who got everyone organized. We received post- its on our doors informing us to meet on Calvert first at nine for our run. Another person even sacrificed their bathroom so everyone would be able to get covered in flour. We had a system down, as we would take turns jumping in the shower and then getting flour thrown all over us. When nine o’ clock came rolling around people started lining up on their balconies to watch. We ran throughout the freshmen quad screaming and banging on people’s doors. Some cheered us on and gave high fives while others covered their eyes in shock. We even ran through Coates before finally returning back to Calvert! Those who participated in Calvert ghosts all had a lot of fun and were happy to carry on the tradition.

Calvert 2nd Bonding

In some dorms, students barely say hi to their fellow hall mates. That is not that case in Calvert! Here on the second floor we are all very close and go on several outings together. Every night at six we go to Mabee Dining Hall for dinner and eat as a “family.” On some nights, we will go out for dinner or go get some ice cream. Recently we went to “Demo’s,” a delicious Greek restaurant on St. Mary’s Street. The nephew of the famous Demo is a resident on our floor!

Birthdays on Calvert are also a special event. For Becca’s birthday we made her a cake and sang happy birthday. After cake, we held the Trinity tradition by taking her to the fountain. The entire hall decided to partake in throwing her in and we all enjoyed our evening dip.

This past Thursday night we all went to the midnight showing of the new scary movie, Paranormal Activity. Our hall took up almost an entire row and by the end of the movie we were all clinging to each other in fright. We thought it was a great movie even if none of us were able to sleep that night. The original plan was to go ghost hunting after the movie by visiting the old railroad tracks. The story behind the railroad tracks is that years ago a school bus was hit by a train and several of the kids on board were killed. Legend has it that if you cover your windows with flour and park your car next to the tracks you can see the handprints of the children as they push you safely across the tracks. Needless to say, after the movie we were all too scared to go visit any ghosts so we went on a 2 a.m. Whataburger run instead. While the visit to the tracks was postponed it was still a great night on Calvert 2^nd!

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Circle of Life In Calvert

“Life’s greatest adventure is finding your place in the circle of life.” –Lion King

Here in Calvert we are all beginning to understand the cycle we are destined to follow. We have encountered death, life at its fullest and the expression of love.

On September 23, 2009 we lost a member of our hall. My suitemates and I were sitting in our room when we were startled by a loud bang on the window. We rushed outside to find the perpetrators only to look down on the ground to see a fallen friend. Our avian visitor must have mistaken our closed window for a clear path, flying right into the face of death. After attracting the attention of all of Calvert with some rather chilling screams, we named the bird Calvey. He was buried in an old cupcake box and we had a funeral procession down the hall to his final resting place. We all said a few words and had a moment of silence for our dear friend. A tombstone was made and placed next to the mark his beak made on our window as a symbol of the mark he made on our hearts. Calvey taught us how quickly life can be lost.

As a result, we residents of Calvert now strive to live everyday to the fullest. Several members of second floor have begun to participate in Parkour--an ancient art of using various urban architectural features as a playground. As you can see in the video below some of us prefer to parkour off the floors instead of taking the stairs like normal people.

Perhaps our most moving experience so far was our witnessing of the expression of love in Miller. The couple decided to partake in their activities with the blinds completely up and lights on so all could watch their late night antics. All of the inhabitants of Calvert gathered to witness the phenomenon. Some even decided to yell comments at the two lovers. We walked over and taped a note on their door thanking them for the show and kindly suggesting they might want to close their blinds the next time they decide to express their love for each other. When the two lovers were departing they read our note and looked out their window to see everyone on Calvert second smiling and waving at them.

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Welcome to Calvert!

Welcome to Calvert! As a first year at Trinity I am constantly asked where I live. When my response is Calvert, the first thing I hear is “Oh, I’m sorry.” Cosmogirl may have rated Trinity’s dorms as the nicest in the nation but they obviously did not visit Calvert. While Trinity constantly brags about their balconies and walk in closets, we have neither. Instead we have “extended windowsills” and rickety sliding doors. Although it may sound like I hate my dorm, in all reality I love it. While we could sit and complain about our horrible living situation and watch the cockroaches scurry across our floors, we choose to spend the majority of our time thinking of new and unique ways to entertain ourselves.

In Calvert, just being in your dorm room can be entertainment enough. Our sliding closet doors that constantly fall off have served as great water pong tables and slides for our bunk beds (Let’s just hope Physical Plant isn’t reading this). The paper-thin walls between suites allow us to easily listen in on conversations and learn more than we ever wanted to know about our neighbors. Here on the second floor, evenings can sound like musicals because someone will blast a song on their stereo, the next room will start humming along, and then the next person will start singing it in the shower.

One of the most important characteristics of Calvert is the loyalty to our RM groups and rivalries between floors. The first floor is known for their constant social circles. Not that I am biased, but Calvert Second is clearly the classiest. Third floor is mostly made up of pranksters, as they are usually the ones responsible for the midnight rants, and the ones that will pour water on the people studying on the walkways below. This blog will serve to describe the drama between floors and the other mysteries of Calvert, the best and worst dorm at Trinity.

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