DD: Meridian Hill Hall

Dear Diary,

I never imagined needing to fit my 6'1" self into a medium sized suitcase when I applied to Howard.  I never conceived that housing at Howard would be so exclusive and aristocratic, especially since this is the first year that I had to struggle for housing at Howard.

Those who have lived in Howard's dormitories know that they are far from luxurious and that the amenities, such as computer labs and, sometimes, even air conditioning, listed on those obscure parts of Howard's website where dorms are described vaguely tend to stretch the truth, to say the least.

Why then, did I have so much trouble getting anything accomplished with Dean Lee and Office of Residence Life as a wholethat by the time I arrived in Washington, D.C., I still had no residence?  So no, I do not feel bad.  In fact, I feel grateful.  I feel grateful to my friend Timothy who agreed the day before I left for Howard to let me stay in his single in Meridian Hill Hall and another friend--let's call her Velma--who put my luggage in her room in after they stopped me and denied my entrance past the lobby.

Velma came back down after putting my luggage in her room, and we walkedto Target thinking of master plans for where I would stay for the night.  I told her maybe I would just stay in Target for the night, and she mentioned something about a suitcase she could probably use to sneak me into Meridian.

I had planned to go to the Office of Residence Life, but it would have closed by the time that I got there.  Then, I scrapped together pieces from a failed plan to live at Franklin Park in Greenbelt Station.  My would be roommates jumped ship two days before I left for Howard, but this new plan did not include them.  Although a dud, the plan started off hopeful with a call within ten minutes of my ad being posted on Craigslist.

Finally, after the idea of being packed in a suitcase like a dead body had churned in my head for long enough, I asked her, "How big is that suitcase?"  We left Target with groceries, and I stopped a couple blocks before Meridian.  I figured that the people checking the list and IDs would just assume she had groceries in her suitcase if she also had some in her hand.

After she went up to get her suitcase and brought it down, I tried several positions with no luck until I tapped into my inner street performer and she managed to zip me in.  With little oxygen, naturally, my life flashed before my eyes, and my mind settled upon the classic television show Kenan & Kel.  I could not help but wonder how it came to be that I was playing the Kel in my life as the suitcase nearly tipped over.

Fortunately, Velma caught it before it went toppling down Meridian's driveway, and I heard the murmur in the lobby.  Soon enough, she unzipped the suitcase, and I tumbled onto the floor of an oddly small elevator.

Later that night, after having no luck falling asleep on Timothy's desk, I curled up and slept on a rug on his floor.  I woke up not sure if I should leave to go to the Office of Residence Life and risk being stuck outside again or remain trapped in Meridian.  I did the former and was successful because at Howard, phone conversations and emails are not taken serious until you show your

face.

I cannot help but think that Howard knew students might arrive on campus without housing and try to stay in their friends' dormitories for a while.  I cannot help but think that might have been the rationale behind the intensified ID and list checking this year—to keep students from having a place to go—so maybe Howard, or better yet, the Office of Residence Life, should feel guilty.