Anthony Abrams opened the door and grinned – very like the topic of a house makeover present who has simply seen his ramshackle abode reworked right into a palace.
“Oh my God, this looks like a hotel,” mentioned Abrams, 18.
That was a typical response Wednesday, as dozens of freshmen started hauling their mini-refrigerators, prized posters, books, garments and different possessions into the University of Illinois at Chicago’s new $100 million Academic and Residential Complex.
Dormitories don’t appear like they used to – significantly for individuals who recall a shared room not a lot bigger than a jail cell. And the glittering glass-and-steel UIC facility, with residing house for 550 college students, stands in stark distinction to a lot of the remainder of campus, which wouldn’t look misplaced in George Orwell’s bleakest of novels, “1984.”
Anthony Abrams (purple shirt) and roommate Daniel Krzysiak introduced loads of stuff to fill their new UIC dorm room.Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times
Susan Teggatz, the UIC’s director of campus housing, oversaw Wednesday’s mass move-in, like a military common directing a small invasion.
“Oh, why don’t they have the street closed?” she groused at one level, looking at Harrison Street, which was speculated to be shut Wednesday morning between Morgan and Halsted streets.
From time to time, she issued orders right into a walkie-talkie. But largely, she gushed concerning the technological wonders of the brand new facility, which additionally has a 228-student lecture corridor and a Starbucks on the primary ground.
The dorm’s housing charges for this tutorial yr vary from $9,550 for a double room to $13,560 for a single room in a “semi-suite.” Meal plans are further.
Nicole Nolden, 17, of Libertyville, chats along with her mom, Jill Nolden, inside her dorm room at UIC’s new Academic and Residential Complex Wednesday.Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times
Up on the second ground, Nicole Nolden, 17, and her mom, Jill Nolden, had been testing her new dorm room — a “traditional double” that shares a rest room with an adjoining dorm room.
“The view is amazing – you can see the Willis Tower,” the freshman from Libertyville mentioned.
On Wednesday morning, Nolden had but to fulfill the girl with whom she would possible spend at the least the following yr. Nolden glanced at a stack of books on the opposite lady’s desk, paying specific consideration to a quantity titled, “How to Win An Argument.”
“That’s not cute,” joked Nolden, who plans to review organic sciences.
UIC college students Anthony Abrams (heart) and Daniel Krzysiak (proper) get assist from a pupil volunteer as they unload their possessions into their UIC dorm room on Wednesday.Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times
Advised her mom: “Just clean up after yourself and be polite.” She then confided: “She’s a pretty good kid. She’ll be fine. She knows her p’s and q’s.”
Up on the fifth ground, Abrams and his buddy since grade faculty, Daniel Krzysiak, had been unloading what regarded like sufficient litter to fill three or 4 dorm rooms – together with a guitar and a poster of former Chicago Bears linebacker — and ubiquitous hair substitute spokesman — Brian Urlacher.
Kryzysiak started dragging Abrams’ 42-inch TV out of a field.
“Be careful with that,” mentioned Abrams, who’s from Oak Lawn.
“It’s the most important thing here,” his buddy replied.
Students started shifting into dorm rooms on the Academic and Residential Complex on the University of Illinois at Chicago on Wednesday.Stefano Esposito/Sun-Times
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