From late-night shows at Second City to all-you-can-eat Mexican buffets in Pilsen, my first year at UChicago was filled with exciting adventures with my housemates (and, of course, lots of delicious food). As a member of Yuen House Council, I always looked forward to planning our amazing house trips. One of the highlights of my year was our 20-minute weekly meeting where we organized upcoming activities over freshly baked focaccia bread and homemade brownies (our house president loved to experiment with new recipes.) Whether it was our trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory, or our afternoon spent thrift shopping, we’ve done our best to explore all that the city of Chicago has to offer. In spite of Spring Quarter being online, my house still kept up with our meetings—we simply learned to get creative! We watched newly released movies together online, started a remote book club, and set up a Minecraft server.
Another one of my favorite memories with my house was winning Quest at the beginning of last year. Quest is a mini-scavenger hunt that pits houses against each other in a series of events including oddball relays, complex math problems, and obstacle courses. (One of our clues instructed us to leapfrog across the entire length of the Main Quad!) After three hours of nonstop activity, my house (Go Yuen!) was first to cross the finish line!
The best part of Quest, however, was that it allowed me to experience my new home at UChicago for the first time. In between rounds of archery, my housemates and I bonded over our mutual likes and dislikes. (Our hot take: Gordon Ramsey was right, pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza.) We talked about which classes we were most excited to take during the upcoming school year and promised to study together in our house lounge. I’m beyond grateful to Quest because I met some of my best friends that day, and I honestly can’t imagine UChicago without them. Even now as I’m writing this, I desperately miss our three-hour-long philosophical conversations and our baking marathons. (We once spent five hours trying to bake a tres leches cake from scratch.)
It’s an undeniable fact that UChicago’s house culture is an integral part of the school. On the weekends, houses organize trips for students to explore the city of Chicago. During this past year, I’ve gone to dimsum and hotpot in Chinatown with my housemates more times than I can count. I’ve even gotten to go to a Chicago Blackhawks game downtown! I’ll also never forget our House Activities Night during O-Week when we went to Dave and Buster’s near the Loop and played arcade games nonstop for three hours.
All of the houses have their own unique traditions as well. At the beginning of every year, my house paints a huge rainbow YUENITY on our windows in the dorm, which I love seeing every time I walk back to my room. Last year, we decided to mix it up and add in a few puns! ("Yuen our house now" and "are Yuen insane?” are definitely some of my personal favorites.) Before every quarter starts, we go watch Improv Shakespeare at the iO Theater. And during finals week, we take a 5 a.m. trip to a Hyde Park restaurant called Valois (said to be Obama’s favorite diner) and watch the sun rise as we eat our chocolate chip pancakes.
The first year of college is full of new experiences and having a built-in community from the minute you step foot onto campus makes it just that much easier. My housemates have become my second family and they’ve truly made UChicago feel like my home away from home!