When you walk into our home on Pine St., several things might catch your eye. As you adjust to the darkness, you might wonder why the University decided to paint our walls burnt orange and give us so few windows. Maybe you’re reminded of a sweaty party you attended here your first year. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ve arrived on a good day, and you’re struck by how sparkly and clean our house is (unlikely, but a girl can dream).

Our house has seen some personnel changes over the course of the year. In December, we lost Caroline Salim ’21 to the pursuit of law and order and Tammy Shine ’21 to the ski slopes, but we welcomed Olivia Comstock ’22—along with her Nespresso machine—to our loving home. Olivia moved into Caroline’s room, and Tammy’s room is now used as a home office, sauna, and personal fitness center.  

We’re lucky to have such a large living space, even though our bedrooms are smaller than at most wood frames. While our grand dreams of throwing extravagant parties here were dashed with the onset of COVID-19, we’d like to think we’ve taken advantage of the space. We spend many of our days embracing our childhood by playing board games, Mario Kart, Just Dance, and Guitar Hero on the Wii. Sometimes, if Olivia and Sophie Talcove-Berko ’21 are feeling generous, Paulina Veliky ’21 and Claire Isenegger ’21 can sit here for hours watching period dramas. On the weekends you can find us hosting themed house parties for the four of us, ranging from “Mamma Mia!” to a casino night. 

Some of the best items we now own were generously bequeathed to us by Camille Britton ’20 when campus shut down last March. These items include our beloved blue stool and the lamp perched on top of it, our board games basket, and the questionable toaster oven that resists all of our efforts to clean it. 

Perhaps the most radical design choice we made in the house was our wall decor. Dotted around the room are the EU and U.K. flags, remnants of a Brexit mourning party we held junior year; a Jaegermeister flag, part of Claire’s 2019 Halloween costume; and a “Bad Bitch” art piece that has received international acclaim (by which we mean that one person in Argentina complimented Sophie on it). 

Although Tammy has left us in body, her spirit lives on. Tammy’s poster, which reads “‘Appy Birthday 90s Montana,” hangs above our kitchen table. We still don’t know who Montana is, why the H is missing, or if she is 90 years old or simply a 90s baby. Some things are better left undiscovered. 

Our house is also home to a fifth resident: Lady the Inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex (don’t tell ResLife). Lady has been part of the family ever since the spring of 2019, when she was adopted for a “dinosaur debauchery” party.  

Lurking by the stairs, you can catch a glimpse of the dreaded Dusty Corner with our dedicated drinks fridge, which holds every Polar Seltzer flavor you can purchase from WesShop.

If you dare to venture up those creaky stairs, you’ll find our four bedrooms. 

Paulina’s room has been rearranged multiple times in order to maximize the space for pilates workouts. Creating more floor space for pilates has the added benefit of providing more space for throwing her clothes on the floor instead of in her laundry basket. This room’s defining feature is the enormous fan that blows nonstop. We do have air conditioning, so you might think there’d be no need for this, but you’d be wrong. You can find her having a dance party at 3 a.m. in our paper house, shaking the floors as a bedtime lullaby for her beloved housemates.

Sophie’s room is color-coordinated and decorated with art from her travels, reminding her of better times when she could journey beyond the CVS in Middletown. Her most precious belonging is her five-pound pink comforter, the blanket of her wildest dreams. She has some books in the corner to remind her of the classwork she should be doing as she binges another Netflix show and trains for her Just Dance competition with Paulina and Olivia. 

Olivia is our resident VSCO girl, and boy, does it show in her room. It’s filled with her skateboard, a new pair of Heelys, a fresh sprig of eucalyptus, and of course, a “Mamma Mia!” poster. But it’s not all sunshine and roses. As we write, Olivia is desperately trying to keep her plants alive. Staying in line with the TikTok trends of last year, a singular strip of LED lights lines the top of her walls, though it only has the ability to switch between green, yellow, and red. Sad! 

Claire chose not to put up any posters or photos up on her wall out of fear that students would be sent home within weeks of arriving on campus. She defines her home decor as simple yet modern, but the rest of us just think it’s weird. Claire did, however, decorate her room with a massive pink Squishmallow, which was bought for her by Tammy as part of a Rite Aid (RIP) BOGO deal, and some string lights she purchased from Target in her first year (the ones everyone and their mother owns).  

It’s strange to think that next year, a new group of people will be lucky enough to see these burnt orange walls every day. While Pine will always hold a very special place in our hearts and we will miss it dearly, we sincerely hope the next residents will be able to host the parties we could only dream of. Our memories—and Lady’s spirit—will live on forever. 

Olivia Comstock can be reached at ocomstock@wesleyan.edu. 

Claire Isenegger can be reached at cisenegger@wesleyan.edu or on Twitter @claireisenegger. 

Sophie Talcove-Berko can be reached at stalcoveberk@wesleyan.edu. 

Paulina Veliky can be reached at pveliky@wesleyan.edu.