She tells her story from the Hut - Super Senior Smarts

Ahh. the Hut. Anyone who says the Hutzler Reading Room is a boring spot is so wrong. In fact, I must admit that some of my favorite Hopkins moments involve this all-too-ignored location. While it's true that the temperature in the reading room is usually just off so that it's too hot when warm outside or too cold when it's cold outside, this should not dissuade anyone from finding good times in the Hut. Just follow your mom's advice and dress in layers.

My first impression of the Hut left much to be desired. I had a midterm in Introduction to American Politics (IAP) and it was the night before when I decided to start studying for it. In true freshman style, I put off panicking until very late that night and when it started to near the midnight hour, I packed up my Ginsberg and Lowi textbook, We the People, along with the requisite pens and paper, and trudged over to the Milton S. Eisenhower (MSE) Library to "get my nerd on," as some would say.

Knowing little about the M-Level social scene, I opted to study on the couches. Of course I was bombarded with "hey, what's up" types and before long realized I had socialized my precious hours away and was being asked to leave the library. What was a panicky freshman - who had yet to realize that IAP was actually one of the easiest Hopkins classes - to do? Fortunately, my suitemates were fans of late-night studying (they were, after all, pre-meds) and happened to be walking to the Hut as I walked out of MSE onto the Upper Quad. I decided to follow them since I knew that going back to Building B would guarantee a night of slumber, which would have meant not studying.

Back when the paths were ugly, lumpy poured blacktop material, walking from MSE to the Hut was an adventure. The uneven nature of the paths and the poor lighting meant I could step into a massive puddle of three-day-old rain if I didn't pay attention to where my feet landed. It was a lot like rock climbing in that I had to find just the right spot to get a foothold. Luckily, I made it to the Hut without getting too damp; all I had to do was avoid Lake Titicaca on the diagonal footpath. So having made it safely to Gilman, I began to wonder what this mysterious place would look like. Would it be like the libraries of old mansions with oak paneling? Would it have cherry wood bookshelves from floor to ceiling with leather-bound classics awaiting my perusal? Surely, there would be comfortable leather chairs and long rows of wooden tables with those green glass bankers light's, right? Nada, dude. Nada.

I walked into the Hut with wide-eyed anticipation and was greeted by a ragged collection of trashy romance and science fiction novels, dorm-requisite furniture, massive and loud fans and chatty people. The reality of this reading room's pitiful state left much to be desired, but when MSE is closed and going home means sleeping, there wasn't much else to do but find my own corner and study. Needless to say, I had no intentions of returning to the Hut after that sad letdown.

However, my involvement with the Johns Hopkins Film Society led me back to the Hut. I had decided to work on Frame of Reference, which is the film society's magazine. Back then, Nick Morrison, Pilar Oberwetter and Teddy Chao were the big, bad upperclassmen who I looked to in my film society days. I distinctly recall one late afternoon when Nick decided to hold a Frame of Reference meeting in the Hut. My immediate reaction was a crinkled face. When Nick saw this, he promised it would be worth my while. So I reluctantly made my way over and sat down where the others were sitting, which was the first table to the right when you walk in.

Once the four of us were there and we had talked shop for a few minutes, Nick pulled out a bottle of red wine and a package of tiny Dixie cups - the kind you use at the dentist's office to rinse or spit. He proceeded to uncork the wine and pour four little cups and pass them around the table. I was, of course, confused and amused. Were the four of us going to sit around the table and get drunk off of red wine in the Hut? Before I knew it, the bottle was out of the hiding place and proudly displaying itself on top of the table as we partook of the wine. It was instantly enjoyable for several reasons. Drinking in the Hut seemed so devious, especially since there were people studying for exams sitting nearby. Being a freshman - and underage - made the experience that much more deviously pleasing. The fear of getting caught soon dissipated and we became a bunch of rowdy wine-drinking college kids. I really can't imagine anything more hilarious than four college students, sitting in a library, drinking red wine out of little Dixie cups, can you?

For the 2000 graduation, my roommate and I thought it would be cool to work as ushers. However, we both wanted to work in the robe area so we could stay indoors all day without dealing with anxious parents and annoyed siblings. Luckily, our campus credentials got us in the door and we got to work in the Hut, where the Office of Special Events had put all the robes for trustees and faculty members who said they'd be in attendance.

After a quick lesson in proper robing techniques, my roommate and I got to hangout in the Hut, eat the fancy spread that was there for trustees and academics. We then started assisting the morning crowd and found it getting hectic. Later after lunch, we continued to do the same thing with the afternoon crowd. Perhaps it was the routine of it all, but I turned to Michael Bloomberg and asked him, "May I assist you in disrobing?" He shot me a glance and realized I had said it innocently and so agreed and then he told me, "Do your parents know they're paying a fortune for you to help people put robes on and take them off?" I guess he thought it was funny, because he just started to laugh. Afterwards, I was careful to phrase my question so it was less ridden with innuendo.

Not only that, but during the actual ceremony my roommate and I got to hang out in the Hut. She took a really long nap while I read a really smutty romance novel. To this day, I wonder what ever became of the not-so-virginal character and her insatiable desire to . well, you know.

I suppose my Hut experiences have been a bit on the extremely amusing side of things, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen to you. Just pick up some things, grab your friends and go to the Hut. Perhaps it's the spectral energy of the Hut that makes people say and do crazy things. Either way, it's lots of fun.