I am a sophomore living in a four bedroom suite in Kirkland Hall. I have three other roommates including myself. I have made so many memories with these girls that I will never forget. They are my good friends and we have shared a lot of laughs and have had many movie nights. No matter how busy your life gets, make sure you spend time with your roommates.
Photo by Amy Nelson ’20
Since I live in a four bedroom suite, I get my own room. There are also suites with only two bedrooms where you have to share. In my room there is a bed, a desk, a desk chair, a closet and a dresser. In the closet, there are two white shelves. The dresser is also pretty large and has three large drawers. The desk is nice and has two drawers in it. One of my favorite things about this room is the thick black curtain. The black curtain blocks out a lot of light so you can sleep well in darkness and take a nap at any point in the day. I take naps a lot, and trust me these curtains are really useful!
Besides my bedroom, there is a small common area in our suite. In our common area there is a bean bag, a chair and a small table for our microwave. We also have two sinks with a lot of drawers which provides plenty of space for the four of us to store our stuff. I like this a lot because when divided between all of our roommates, I have two drawers for all of my beauty supplies. In addition, we have our own shower. I love having my own shower because I can just take a shower without bringing a little shower bag every time. I recommend putting a shelving unit in your shower room, because then you can put all of your shower stuff on the shelf so it’s there each time you take a shower.
Living in Kirkland also involves more cleaning because it isn’t just a dorm room anymore. You have a common area to vacuum, a toilet, sink and shower room to keep clean. Your RA will check to see if your bathroom or shower room is clean. If it isn’t, then your RA will make you clean it and check your room again. This isn’t as bad as you would think because you do have other roommates who will help out. In my room, our roommates have divided who cleans what on what week. But is always important to clean up after yourself.
There are a couple of differences between Kirkland versus other dorms. For one thing, Kirkland has air conditioning. When you move in, you move in August. The weather is going to get very hot. In Kirkland, there is air conditioning. In the summer and even in September, that air conditioning will be useful. Another difference is the kitchen. The kitchen in Kirkland is very nice! It’s even nicer than the kitchen at my house but I don’t really use this kitchen because it is shared between everyone on your floor, someone else is often using the oven or the toaster.
One last thing that’s important to know about living in Kirkland is the expense. It’s more expensive to live in Kirkland than any of the other dorms but it has more features like private bathrooms and air conditioning. Plus, Kirkland Hall is right across the street from Kryzsko Commons and Minne Hall so it has the benefit of being close to the cafeteria and classes.
Overall, I have enjoyed living in Kirkland and I loved being with my roommates. I would definitely recommend considering Kirkland for on campus living at Winona State University.
