Nestled unobtrusively among the woodframe houses on Fountain Ave. and Pine St. is the baby-blue domain of a young couple who are college – but not Wesleyan – students. Leon Hungerford, 26, and Ashley Greenwood, 22, are undergraduate students currently attending Middlesex Community College. He is taking courses in graphic design, and she is specializing in radiology.
The house, although very much a part of the campus topography, is clearly delineated by the signs outside and around that warn: “Private Property” and “Keep Out.” However, upon entering, any trepidation about the hospitality of its owners is immediately dispelled.
Hungerford, tall, lean and relaxed, was home alone when we dropped in on him, but was friendly and congenial enough for two. A comfortable living area cordoned off by two cushy couches, a huge LCD screen, and the unapologetic presence of a rotund grey cat with soft eyes added to the hominess – this definitely wasn’t senior housing.
As a war movie quietly played in the background, Hungerford explained the reasons for his unorthodox living situation.
“We were initially living on North Main Street, but the surroundings were pretty shitty and we were looking to move,” he said. “Then I found out that the landlord’s brother, whom I went to high school with, was moving out of this place. The timing was perfect. We took it.”
Living in the social epicenter of a college campus has its perks as well as its pitfalls.
“It’s cool living on a college campus,” Hungerford said. “My neighbors are really nice and friendly. The only gripe I have is that it gets noisy sometimes, especially since we work and sometimes have to go to bed early on weekends.”
Not to be outdone, the couple hosted a huge bash for Greenwood’s birthday last October.
“It got pretty wild,” Hungerford said. “Things got broken.”
Apart from studying, the couple also juggles jobs to pay the bills. Hungerford bartends at Amici’s on Main Street five nights a week while Greenwood works at the New Britain General Hospital. It is through his job that Hungerford is able to gain access to campus life—one of his colleagues at Amici’s Grill is a Wesleyan student.
“[My colleague] invites us over once in a while for house parties,” Hungerford said. “They’re fun, but really packed. It’s like being sardines in a can.”
Having lived on the premises for a year now, Hungerford and Greenwood have no plans to leave in the near future. Both are natives of Connecticut and saving up to buy a condo elsewhere in the state in the future.
“In the far future,” Hungerford said.
While they seem to be living much more independent lives than a large proportion of the Wesleyan student community, the couple is not exempt from the universal angst that comes with academia—Hungerford has to fulfill English class requirements for his concentration in graphic design, and is not entirely happy about it.
“I have to write essays in some other author’s style,” he griped. “It’s not fun.”