Day In The Life Of A VP Resident

It finally happened. You’ve missed advanced registration time and time again. You’ve failed to fill out various contact lists and forms for clubs on time. You’ve asked for extensions on papers and projects. But now, you’ve missed the deadline for something you can’t solve with an apologetic email to a professor. You forgot to sign up for housing next year. 

Fear not, future homeless student. UTB’s got your back. With the entire basement floor open 24 hours a day, Van Pelt (the library, although the dorm of the same moniker probably still has room tbh) is certainly Penn’s most livable study space. Plus, it's free! Here, we check in with a student already taking advantage of this great offer: VP’s little known full-time resident.

7 a.m. : I rise with the sun, as it streams through the windows of the basement. A few students pulling “all-nighters” take “cat naps” on the other couches. Anyone still awake is too much of a zombie to notice my PJs and blanket. I kill some time until the rest of the library opens at…

8:30 a.m. : I head to Mark’s café for some coffee cake. I eat, then grab my clothes from one of the lockers under the basement stairs. I rent 10 lockers at a time for all of my stuff. They are free, but unfortunately, I must re-check out the keys to each of them at the Reserve desk every 12 hours.

9 a.m. : Time for my daily sponge bath in a 4^th floor bathroom. These are extra-spacious, and the full-length mirror is a nice touch.

9:50 a.m. : I head out for the day. Full time residency does not allow me to escape a pesky bag check on my way out.

5 p.m. : After a full day of classes, meetings, and working in other study spaces, I head home. Around now they start giving away the day’s leftover sushi at Mark’s. Fishy? Yes. (Sorry…)

6 p.m.: I set up my laptop at a desk in Rosengarten and crank out an essay due tonight

8 p.m. : I ask the girl sitting at the desk next to me to “just watch my stuff for a second.” She obliges, and I head off to my friend’s birthday BYO.

10 p.m. : Dinner gets pretty rowdy, and the boy sitting across from me is making eyes at me. He asks if we can go back to my place. I remember that I’m still not on great terms with VP security due to a recent adventure in the stacks. I politely decline, and head back home.

10:30 p.m. : I return to my desk, where my former seatmate has been replaced. I pack up, curl up on the couch, and call it a night.

So, whether you forgot to register for housing or just want to get out of living with NSO friends, consider becoming a VP resident. You're basically there 24/7 anyways.