All Stern requirements completed. Core fulfilled. Double major and triple minors finished. Senior check passed. Graduation application filled out. The question lingers: if this is the case, why stay for a super senior year?
Tonight, sitting huddled around the fireplace in the 36th street dorm, we fourth-year Stern-goers ask ourselves that question. Friends graduated, and credits fulfilled, why are we here for super senior year?
Reason # 1
Our potential as housing residents in Murray Hill would not be fully realized if we did not try every dorm on campus. In our first year, we thought Brookdale was the place to be. Where the shuttle departs. The hub, where all traffic passes through—Thursday nights especially. We had it all: Milner’s, the Chanukah window Menorah, and all of our first year friends. We even had a really useful and fully equipped kitchen, along with an airy and refreshing bathroom. The package center was only a few floors away, too.
The next year in Schottenstein, we realized that we did not miss the people-traffic, nor the “Uuuhptown” calls. We did miss the 34th street construction and ambulance sirens at 4 AM, though—nostalgia at its best. To comfort us, we had a brand new caf store, a bigger gym to counteract the caf store, two cozy lounges whose couches dogs’ claws got ahold of, and a black and white checkered bathroom floor—in the hallway.
There was also life in 35th street. It was great. We had no hot water or shower pressure, windows that did not open more than a crack, mosquitoes flying in and out of the fire escape, and a slamming door that woke us up every morning. But we got Fios that year, which made everything better. The Shabbat meals and kitchen/living room/dining room/den area was pretty awesome, which made up for the immense drawbacks of 35th. Oh yeah, and the marble floors and countertops—the worst.
After such formative housing experiences in each dorm, how could we possibly leave after only living in three dormitory buildings? So we did the only logical thing: we stayed a fourth year to try 36th Street.
Reason # 2
We were not satisfied with our Torah Tours placements. It was not fair. We de-served to travel to a more exotic places, but wound up in towns practically walking distance from our dorm. Every year, our hopes were dashed. Punctured when we arrive at orientation. It was worth staying an extra year just to find one more community to inspire, one more person to meet, and one more road trip or plane ride to go on. It was also a productive and cost-efficient way to see where we want to live someday. We networked and built references too, so that we can land a job in the near future. Which will eventually cover the cost of the 4th year.
Reason #3
How could we leave knowing that the Wilf library awaited renovations? (Which obviously means that Stern’s library is getting redone too, right? In which case, we have to stick around to see that completed as well!) And who could resist waiting to see what new caf improvements a fourth year would bring? Marinara sauce in little plastic containers? Sushi sauce bottles? Zucchini and squash peels in the salad bar? Totally worth pushing off graduation! And we could not imagine Teriyaki salmon-less Thursdays.
Warmed by the fire, we chime in with more personal reasons. “I so do not want to move to the Heights yet…No more uptown shuttle? Buying food with real money?…No more snow days?…No more spacious elevator rides?…I never won the Metropolitan Experience lottery!…But, I wanted to ask a question at the next Town Hall meeting…”
Even with all of the logical reasons we brainstorm, we know there is more to be said. We each add our own flavor of super-senior pride, ranging from the opportunity to play on sports teams that accommodate our religious needs to immersion in a rigorous and enlightening dual curriculum. We add a pinch of appreciation for the uniqueness of Yeshiva University and a dose of the buzzing atmosphere in the Beit Midrash.
We also mention how much we are going to miss the array of Shiurim and chessed events, the individualized attention from professors and administration, and the vibrant aura that brims with possibilities. We will even miss the sstuds, as our inboxes will be uncharacteristically empty.
We stay up all night huddled around the fireplace, four proud super seniors, enthusiastically accumulating reason after reason for why we stayed this extra year. And as the last log is consumed by the smoky ashes, we play a few notes on the antiquated piano, take the non-existent elevator upstairs and walk to our respective rooms, content with the list we have compiled.
Oh, and we have always wanted to write an article for The Observer. Guess a fifth year wouldn’t hurt…