The first dorm that I was ever in was Burge. It was on an overnight college visit as a high school senior in the summer of 1996. To say the least, I was not impressed. Since I had never been in a dorm before I didn't quite know what to expect, but I knew Burge wasn't it.

The impression I had when I first saw the dorm was actually pretty good. The outside is different looking from the buildings around it, and it just kind of stands out ~ in a good way. Then you go inside...

At first glance the inside of Burge looks acceptable. There's an information desk right there, a big lounge with a lot of chairs/tables, and a big screen TV. With all the students lounging around and chatting it looked quite comfortable and homey. At least that's how it looked to me until I was shown to my room for the night.

My first time in a dorm room, and I think I actually gasped. Are they all this small! It's not that I was used to a big extravagant living space, or anything, but this was really, really tiny. There was only about three feet of walking room between the two beds, and with the desk and dresser I had a hard time finding a place to set my stuff while still standing "inside" the room. I was a little relieved to hear that this was really only a single room that had been converted into a double for the "seniors night", but even with the extra furniture out of there it would still be pretty small. (Later in the school year I discovered that just about all the rooms are small.)

The room and the furnishings were acceptable, but that's it ~ acceptable. Everything looked pretty old...the beds creaked something awful, the desks/dressers were really worn, and some of the floor tiles were cracked/broken. To top it off, the whole feel of the room just screamed "hospital!".

I put the room out of my mind, though, and went off to explore the rest of the building. Burge isn't really that big, but somehow I got a little bit lost. Suddenly I found myself in a secluded part of the building. The walls were made of big concrete blocks painted yellow and there was a terrible whirring noise all around me. I was actually pretty freaked out...it felt like I was in some low budget horror film where a deranged killer was stalking me. I finally figured out how to get back to the main area, but I will never forget that experience. (I wasn't even in a "forbidden" area either...I later learned that it was just part of the dorm.)

One of the only upsides to Burge is it's location. It's really close to mid-campus and to most of the buildings that Freshman would need to go to. Besides the location, Burge also has a dining hall (not every dorm does) and is the only handicap accessible dorm at U of I. Unless you need the handicap accessibility, I don't believe these things outweigh the bad at all. All things aside, the building is just plain ancient.

While I was attending U of I, I heard some rumors that Burge was going to be renovated. As far as I know it hasn't happened yet, but I haven't been there for about a year either. I really hope it has happened, though, because Burge is the dorm they try to push off on all the incoming freshman. Not a good "first" experience, if you ask me.

Please remember the fact that I was a 17 year old high school student on my own for the very first time in strange surroundings. That right there could be part of why I feel the way I do about Burge. (But some of my friends also have the same opinion...so I'm not alone.) Plain and simply, Burge is merely just acceptable. Look around and you can do WAY better.








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