By Camila Crews

Walking around Northeastern, it’s amazing to see how many things have changed over the last four years I’ve been at this glorious instution. It’s funny how sometimes I think how things may change years from now, but looking at the campus, I’m sure things will be beyond recognition 10 years from now.

One thing I distinctly remember from my two years living in Willis Hall is that once upon a time cars lined Leon Street. Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’07 and ’08, at one point it was legal to park on Leon Street. Cars lined up bumper to bumper on the narrow street and although students were only able to park on one side of the street, it was still more convienient than having to find space on Parker Street.

Also, our wonderful dining facilities have improved. Stetson East and West, well there weren’t always two. In the fall of 2002, Stetson West was introduced as another dining alternative. Stetson West was known for their stir fry cuisine as well as their tasty cookies. Stetson East was the place to be if you wanted to try your hand at making a fluffy waffle or picking the ingredients to go into an omelet.

The residence halls have probably been one of the things that changed the most. In 2000, there was no Davenport A or B, no 780 Columbus, nor was their a West Village E. Did anyone else notice there’s no West D? The monumental construction that lies parallel to the African-American Institute not only houses students, but it also serves as a new academic home for the College of Health Sciences. I would tell you what was there before, but I don’t remember.

Now, next to Willis Hall there are two new residence halls going up, these two are West Village G and H (still no West D) I remember the days of sleeping in Willis Hall and listening to the banging of steel and the tractors roaring as my wake-up call each and every morning. At one time in front of Willis there used to be a nice little courtyard where you could sit on the benches during the summer months.

Oh, those were the days.

There even used to be a small basketball court were West G now stands. It was always a treat to look out of my Willis Hall window and see the hard bodies running up and down the court. Behind the court there was a parking lot that also served as a short-cut to West Village.

Speaking of parking, there used to be a parking lot next to the Institute where the construction camp made up of trailers is now. Stetson West didn’t always look like the set of Survivor; the wooden fixtures and pretty picnic tables weren’t always there. Oh no, in 2001 there was nothing there except for stairs.

But perhaps the biggest change of all has come in the form of semester conversion. This new system which the university has decided to enforce in hopes of becoming one of the top 100 schools. Well, I don’t know if this far-fetched dream will come true. Face it, part of the standings for the top 100 is the retention rate and now that another tuition increase of 4.5 percent, the lowest we’ve seen, it’s going to be hard for students to come back to NU. If you don’t live in a cardboard box, it’s hard to get any substantial fincancial aid. God forbid you have two parents that work, you’re surely up the creek without a paddle as they say, when it comes to finances.

For all the freshman, there was a time at Northeastern when we operated on a quarter system that was probably similar to the one you had in high school. This made the transition from high school to college run more smoothly. First quarter ran simililarly to the fall semester, it was from September to December, second quarter was from January to March and the final quarter ran from March to June. The biggest adjustment for old foggies like myself is going to be going on spring break and then coming back and being in the same class.

Well, I guess there’s nothing I can really do except keep rolling with the punches. Oh, how things have changed.

— Camila Crews can be reached at [email protected].