A Good Hill to Die On // Keepin’ It Cool

There is truly no worse feeling than waking up drenched in sweat, covers tossed to the side and your childhood stuffed animals launched to the floor all while your fans are set to max speeds. Apart from taking the skin off your body, there is just no good way to readjust and cool yourself down. Now, the cause of this is no illness or hot flashes, but rather the absence of air conditioning. 

I had the great privilege of living in Nordenberg Hall my first year and became accustomed to the luxury of a cool, semi-comfortable sleeping situation, even with those awful dorm mattresses. This year, when I chose to live in McCormick Hall, my biggest concern was not my six other suitemates, or the noisy quad, but rather spending my first month or so without AC. 

After reading dozens of Reddit threads and searching all over social media, not only did I find little information on McCormick as a whole, but my brain came to the conclusion I would literally be living in hell. It would be “brutal” for the first few months, and since I am on a lower floor, the reverse is true in the winter when it becomes super cold. My brain panicked, and my top search on Safari from April through August was “fans.” By that point, I could call myself a fan of fans. 

Despite my fears, after spending three weeks in the dorm, I have found myself at peace and often quite cool. Like I said, I did absurd amounts of research to find what I thought to be the best and most affordable solution to the no AC dorm issue that many of the buildings in the Schenley Quad still face. Thus, the panic over living without this luxury is no hill to die on, unlike the walk to the Petersen Events Center. 

I myself have become accustomed to panicking about the unknown, almost to the point I can no longer focus on the more important tasks around me. The fear of living without AC was much greater than the reality. This situation has shown me all the privileges I have been granted in my 19 years of life, and how to face upcoming challenges with less fear and rather perseverance and optimism. 

As I am writing this post from my dorm, with my Honeywell turbofan pointed directly at me, a Holmes window fan exchanging air propped up and an “air evaporator” plugged in running on full blast, life is truly not so horrible. A panic over living without air conditioning is unnecessary, and the privilege to come home to a cool space is something truly never to be taken for granted.