In the Fall of 2025, I began my second year living at Lynx Crossing. My first year had been pleasant enough and, save for the occasional instance of my roommate playing the new “Call of Duty” and screaming like he was being shot, I had by all accounts a fairly standard year. As I arrived this past Fall, I anticipated a similar time, albeit hopefully with less “Call of Duty.” As we approach the conclusion of the year, I am delighted to report that my optimism was unfathomably misplaced. My past self, a foolish cherub of joy and whimsy, knew nothing of the ants, the mold, the multiple tub replacements and the hodgepodge of inconveniences and frustrations that would soon flow. So, dear reader, allow me to take you into the bowels of Lynx Crossing, and my year in hell.  

Mere days after I moved in, an ant infestation began in our kitchen and outside our door, flooding into our room. I cannot blame the dorm for this, I was given a room on the first floor, literally adjacent to the outside world, some sort of bug was inevitably going to find its way inside. We quickly and vindictively killed the ants and now own enough ant spray to eradicate every ant on Earth. While a minor inconvenience, this would turn out to be an omen of the horrors to come. It was already too late for me. 

With the construction of a new dining hall menu, the prospect of more food options was deeply exciting. Lynx Crossing had never had bad food options in the past, offering an assortment of burgers, salads, sandwiches, chicken tenders, pizza, and much more. The idea of new food seemed great to me. If we’re adding more options and variety then surely we’ll have a cornucopia of food to choose from! Right? Wrong! Lynx Crossing instead decided to get rid of most options, instead focusing on one item and making several versions of that. Gone are pizzas, chicken tenders, and instead are six different burgers. The new menu would focus on the aforementioned burgers, but also breakfast foods like egg sandwiches, wings, milkshakes, and one meal for an entire week. These significantly reduced options make it much harder to find routinely nourishing food with variety. The quality of the food varies, sometimes it can be quite good, other times it can be borderline inedible, making eating there a coin toss. The dining hall also cut out its market, which offered a litany of snacks, beverages, and frozen foods to choose from. This has been replaced with a truncated version of the market in the quiet lounge, offering only a handful of items the market previously offered. Next to this mini market is a machine where students can select different ready-to-go foods to purchase. This machine offers White Castle sliders, dumplings, cookies, and other foods. It’s a well-needed and quite tasty addition to the otherwise miniscule food choices. 

It’s worth mentioning that Lynx has made some strides to improve its dining experience since remodeling. The dining hall now offers a lunchtime meal, alternating weekly between a sandwich and a salad. In addition to this, the meal of the week now changes to a new meal on Thursdays and Fridays. The dining hall is still not open on Saturdays, but the dining experience seems to be very slowly getting better.  

I want you to imagine that you’re in your final class of the day. It’s been an arduous and exhausting day; you’re tired and just want to go home. Rather than your professor telling everyone to leave, you are greeted by a message from your roommate that reads: “Maintenance came by and apparently there’s water damage and a leak coming from your bathroom.” This was the beginning of the tub saga. Cracks had formed inside my bathtub and began to leak into my bedroom. From here things began to unravel. My tub and closet wall had to be demolished and replaced, and a fan with the equivalent of a jet engine was moved into my closet and turned on all hours of the day. I was offered a new room by housing, but I was no quitter.  

Due to my lack of closet, my room had to be completely rearranged to fit my clothes and bins. I share a room with three other people, with two people each sharing a bathroom. We were down one bathroom and had to share one amongst four people. From here, the great rebuilding began as the tub and wall were reconstructed. Eventually, a new tub was put in and my room returned to normal.  

Three months later, the same thing happened in the other bathroom in our room. The exact same thing. Now, I’m no mathematician, but the probability of that happening twice feels pretty low! At least that’s what I thought before a puddle formed on the bathroom floor and water seeped through the wall into our living room. It was the same story, cracks in the tub, tub and wall needed to be replaced, loud fans everywhere. It was almost cosmic irony; a cruel joke beseeched upon me by pure evil. After yet another great rebuilding, flooding appeared through our common room wall again. More fans, and after being investigated, no source was determined. As of the time of writing this, the reason has not been found, but no more flooding has occurred. With the semester drawing to a close, I thought things were surely going to get better. 

Things did not get better. After a calm conclusion to the semester and a relatively easy return, the universe decided that my roommates and I had been living too easily and needed to be punished for it. We were then delivered copious amounts of mold in our bathroom. By this point our dorm had probably met the requirements to be designated as a biohazard. After the mold was cleaned off, our bathroom light went out, leaving us completely in the dark. While our bathroom light was out, the light above our sink went out as well. I understand how ludicrous it sounds that these things have all happened within the span of nine months, and I understand how preposterous it sounds that these things have happened sequentially in such a limited time span. At this point I find it a bit funny. 

Recently, after our light problems were fixed, Lynx Crossing experienced a fire in its laundry room, shutting down both the laundry room and the surrounding area, including the neighboring gym. As of writing, the laundry room and gym are closed for the next few weeks. Students have been given access to visit City Heights, the neighboring freshman dorm on the other side of the Tivoli to do their laundry, with specially designated hours applied to them. The wellness center is also close to City Heights, leaving students somewhere to exercise. This has been the final horror of Lynx Crossing I’ve experienced for the time being.  

Ultimately, living at Lynx Crossing this year has been tumultuous to say the least. While I have been beset by problems, there are bright sides to Lynx Crossing. The staff has always been friendly and courteous, working hard to see any and all issues resolved. The aforementioned offer of a new room by housing, as well as the RA’s always working to try to create solutions as soon as possible. While the sitcom-level tomfoolery continues, it is marked by a place in the middle of changing itself. Hopefully next year, Lynx Crossing can continue its changes, implementing new and positive things to make its residents’ lives less evil. As for me, I must return to the horrors, I cannot keep them waiting.