Boland Hall isn’t just a dorm room. It’s an experience that tests your limits and your survival skills.
From fire alarms at 3 a.m. that replicate an early morning cardio session, to communal bathrooms that test your level of disgust and even your immune system, to finding your perfect roommate, or so you thought…
Some say it builds character, while others say it's a trauma-bonding experience. Most students who live there always have a story about how Boland Hall changed them forever.
Aditi Deo, a junior biology major, describes her experience as anything but ordinary.
“I would describe it as an experience that keeps you on your toes,” Deo said. “I used to be very nosy but Boland teaches you that sometimes you don’t need to or want to know what’s going on.”
Sohini Mukherjee, a senior biology major, shares one of the strangest moments she experienced at Boland.
“There was a scheduled fight in the first-floor lobby. Although the fight itself never happened, so many people got signed in to come and watch it happen,” she said.
Because in Boland, even scheduled fights are somehow an opportunity for dysfunctional social gatherings.
For instance, the fight for laundry machines is like the Hunger Games, and ironically, it’s right in Campus Ministry where finding spirituality turns into finding a functioning dryer machine.
The communal bathrooms are no better, from the one stall everyone fights for, to scary shower experiences and random overnight guests roaming the halls.
“Why would I want to see a man when I get out of the shower in my fluffy pink bathrobe?” Mukherjee said.
Boland definitely ensures that its residents stay alert for any possible occasion.
Millie Mead, a senior finance, marketing and wealth management major, shared how the temperature in the building switches from the Sahara Desert to Antarctica in just minutes.
“I think it's always been bad, but I remember my mom being like, there's Facebook groups of parents scared for your safety.”
At Boland, the problem isn’t the weather outside; it's the weather in your room.
Of course, the most memorable for all who passed through Boland is its beloved fire alarm tradition.
“I specifically remember three times. The most ridiculous time was at 3 a.m. in the dead of winter,” said Mukherjee. “My roommate considered not going because it was the middle of the night until the sirens started blaring in our room.”
“The most ridiculous reason was someone spraying perfume too close to the alarm,” Deo added.
For residents, frequent fire alarm disruptions developed entrenched survival routines.
Amanda Brown, a sophomore biology major, quickly realized this wasn’t just a one-time thing.
“My personal fire alarm survival routine is to put on the easiest shoes, grab my keys and phone, and run,” Brown said.
Nothing captures the Boland Hall experience like a chaotic night, either.
“The most chaotic night I experienced was when I experienced my first fire alarm, I was watching the premiere of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Season 33 and it went off in the middle of the episode and we couldn’t get back into the building for around two hours because there was a gas leak in the laundry room,” Brown said.
Even watching your favorite TV show in your cozy dorm becomes a high-risk activity.
While chaos seems to be the norm in Boland, students have expressed that some luxury upgrades could be used for students to find it a little less intimidating.
“Those shower curtains in the communal bathroom are desperately needed,” Deo said.
“Replacing old carpets would change the whole atmosphere of that building,” Khalil Crumes, a junior accounting and finance major, said.
So, does Boland Hall build character? Patience? Or resilience?
Most students are not convinced that it does any of the above.
“Honestly, I think it made me go insane,” Mukherjee said.
Yet, even those survivors who come out on the other side share the Boland experience formed bonds even through the chaos.
“Don’t be afraid to walk around and make friends, everything is there and there's so much community,” Crumes said.
Grace Tylee is the head editor of The Setonian’s Social Media section. She can be reached at grace.tylee@student.shu.edu.
