Editor praises Coutyard, rules not too constraining

Jeffery Brodeur
brodeurj@mytjnow.com

Most college residence halls never have been, and never will be, as spacious or luxurious as the houses students have left back home.

After spending my first year at Winthrop in Richardson, I felt the same way.

I wasn’t used to having to share a bathroom with a dozen other people, nor did I ever have to deal with noisy neighbors at odd hours of the night when I was in my room trying to get work done.

Heading into my second year on campus, I applied to live in the Courtyard, hoping and praying that it would live up to my expectations.

It did.

Okay, let me start off by saying that like every other college dorm, no one should move in to the Courtyard expecting perfection. It still has its fair share of rules and regulations, and there are still Resident Assistants that will enforce these rules.

As long as you aren’t trashing your room, screaming at the top of your lungs or using a George Foreman grill, you’ll be fine.

Aside from that, the Courtyard is the best option for Winthrop students that want to live on campus.

The first thing that I noticed was how much more the residents were treated like adults versus other dorms on campus. Although I still don’t agree with the idea of having to sign visitors into your room after a certain hour, the Courtyard is much more lenient with their visitation policy. Guests are free to stay for up to four days, including overnight, once they are registered at the front desk.

From a financial standpoint, you’re given all the amenities of living in an apartment, washer and dryer included; only, you’re still located on the campus. Better yet, the cost is on par, if not less than what students will find around Rock Hill.

And for students who don’t work full time during the semester, such as myself, we aren’t required to pay rent upfront every month. Instead, it conveniently all comes out of tuition.

However, the biggest draw for me was the simple pleasure of having my own room and only having to share a bathroom with one other person.

Privacy to me was one of those things I always took for granted living in my own house, and as a college student, it’s importance is intensely magnified. I can go to bed whenever I want, stay up as late as I need to and play the music that my roommate has always hated.

The Courtyard almost seems like the Ritz-Carlton of the campus, standing tall over the other residence halls, which would more likely resemble budget friendly hotels.

The suites are spacious and private, fully furnished, competitively priced and located adjacent to the campus.

It has surpassed my expectations, and I can’t even imagine moving back to a traditional dorm after my experiences living in the Courtyard.