Ihaven’t conducted any surveys, but I’ve heard a fair share of opinions and theories about Allen Hall in my years at Harding. Most who live in Allen proudly claim it as their home, and many of its house-dwelling former residents get misty-eyed at its mere mention. To them, it’s far more than their residence hall: It’s their Grand Hall, the place where some of their fondest Harding memories occurred. To others, Allen is simply a boisterous and smelly dorm where guys go to lose their GPAs and their collective dignity in exchange for a few embarrassing stories.
These negative impressions are not unfounded, but speaking as a two-year Allen resident, I think a lot of Allen’s bad reputation has resulted from many of us Allen-supporters not presenting our perspective very clearly. So I’m going to take up the mighty pen and try to explain in a few words why we love life in Allen, and there’s actually more to it than one may think.
Many see Allen’s atmosphere as the wildest that Harding has to offer. Generally, that’s probably true. Allen can get loud. When you have a few hundred amped-up college guys who are all locked in the same building on a Friday night, Allen can get downright crazy. I will grant that to any Allen detractor, but is it impossible to live there and get good grades or enough sleep? No.
There are certainly more distractions, but fending off procrastination is a task students have to face no matter where they live. But in Allen, at least the distractions have a positive tradeoff. I’ll take procrastination by way of a meaningful conversation with a roomful of close friends over wasting time alone on the Internet any night of the week.
Life in Allen is a relational experience. In some ways, it’s like a continuation of the freshman dorm experience found in Armstrong and Harbin. But instead of halls being filled with dozens of strangers, Allen has entire floors filled with peer groups and club members that select rooms en masse. The result is a massive core group of residents who are comfortable with each other.
Allen Hall is not aesthetically pleasing, but this homeliness encapsulates one of the dormitory’s core virtues: It encourages comfort with oneself. Allen may not be beautiful, but it is pleasant to live in. It’s comfortable. In that regard, Allen conveys a feeling of easy confidence, free of any insecurity despite what others may view as a physical flaw. Because the dorm offers very little privacy, living in Allen compels one to live in complete ease with one’s own self. The only social norm that Allen demands from its residents is that they find a way to make themselves comfortable.
My time in Allen has been an incredible blessing that I will always treasure, but the dorm is not for everyone. No matter what I write or what anyone says, some people, like my mom, will just never quite see Allen’s merit. And that’s fine. As the song goes, it’s different strokes for different folks.
