Learning Through Words

It’s a new year (and a new decade!) and something that a lot of high school seniors are thinking about is college. Actually, anyone interested in continuing their education and getting a degree could be thinking about it. However, college applications for undergraduates are due soon, and I thought I would talk about the college I graduated from a couple of years ago, Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. For historical information on the college, you can check out an article I wrote for Suite101: The Uniqueness of Emerson College. Emerson’s website also has an historical outline.

One thing about Emerson is that it’s been in continuously changing. When I started there, the Tufte Performance and Production Center had just been opened. Emerson maintained two dorms and a Student Union on Beacon Street, as well as a dorm/convenience store/diner on Marlborough Street. Then, ground was broken on Boylston Street for a new dorm, the Piano Row Building. That building was completed and opened the last year I was there, and the Beacon Street buildings were sold. The college bookstore was also relocated from inside 80 Boylston Street to its own separate place further down Boylston, where it became one of the Barnes & Noble college bookstores. In the years since I graduated, the Paramount Center and the Colonial Building have also been added. You can take a virtual tour of Emerson’s current buildings here.

Past Emerson

Although these places aren’t owned by Emerson anymore, they were a significant part of my time there, and I think they’ve influenced Emerson’s relocation to almost entirely Tremont and Boylston Streets.

• 132/34 Beacon Street: I actually only went into the lobby there to help post a flyer for something. This dorm was the farthest away from the main academic buildings, and it was separated from 100 Beacon by Fisher College buildings and residential brownstone apartments. What struck me the most about this building was the fact that it looked like it was stuck in time - namely the 1920’s and 1930’s. Only a small amount of people lived there.  Some people who had lived in this dorm often talked about the old elevator, which was often not working, but was fascinating because of its age.
• 100 Beacon Street: I lived in this dorm my freshman year at Emerson. It was very much like living in little apartment areas, since each floor was typically split in half and each side had their own common room. Also, there were beautiful views of the Charles River and the Esplanade. I remember there being a Third Eye Blind concert at the Esplanade once, and I could see the entire thing from my desk while writing a paper. However, it was an old brownstone that was showing its age, complete with mold and mice. It has since been renovated into multimillion dollar condos.
• 6 Arlington Street/0 Marlborough Street: This dorm/c-store/diner building was located on a corner, hence the strange address. I never actually saw what the dorms looked like, but I used to go to the c-store (convenience store) and the diner a lot when I lived at 100 Beacon Street as a freshman. It was fun to stop in there for a snack, and then just a short distance away to Boston’s famous Newbury Street.
• 96 Beacon Street/Student Union Building: I actually only went in there a couple of times for the housing selection process and when there were spontaneous fire drills at 100 Beacon, but oh, it was lovely. It was like being transported back to the Victorian era, with a sweeping staircase and large rooms.

Present Emerson

Some of the newer buildings I really have no familiarity with, but I do know something about these:

• The Piano Row Building: This building opened at the beginning of my senior year. Some friends and I took a quick tour, but much of it was still in-progress. The design itself is, I must admit, rather different. While walking around the place, I thought to myself how it looked like a maze of staircases. However, that was just one visit. I didn’t have any need to go there for the rest of my time at Emerson, but I did like how walls of windows were incorporated into the design.
• The Little Building: It’s still there, and no doubt it’s seen some changes since I graduated, but it’s a classic. I lived there for two years in a “triple”, or room with two other people. It was a spacious room, so we didn’t actually feel crowded. Each floor is different. This might have changed, but while I was there, some floors were themed for certain groups, such as the Freshman floor. The rooms at the front of the building have really nice views of the Boston Common. Rooms elsewhere, however, can have views as basic as a brick wall, or a glimpse of Tremont Street. Before the west side of campus was sold to make room for the Piano Row Building, the “LB” was considered the most convenient place to live, since it was right near the academic buildings. It also has a c-store or convenient store, a performance area known as The Cabaret, and a dining hall. The main lobby has access to a printing shop and Dunkin’ Donuts, which I loved. Starbucks fans only have to go right across the street.
• 120 Boylston/The Walker Building: I had most of my classes in this building, which is where the library is. It’s a combination of lecture classrooms (which kind of remind me of movie theaters the way the seats look) and smaller classrooms. There is also, on the 5th floor, a hallway that leads into the Tufte Performance and Production Center.
• 10 Boylston Place/Tufte Performance and Production Center: Also known as the “Tufte”, or the “PPC”, I had my theater history classes in this building. It’s home to two theaters, production studios, and a costume workshop, among other things. It’s another one of those buildings with a very modern design.
• 180 Tremont/Ansin Building: I had some classes in this building, some large, others small. This building is most known for being the base of WERS, Emerson’s famous radio station.
• 216 Tremont: I had two classes in this building, one of which was in a classroom that had a view of Emerson’s majestic theater. The Bill Bordy Theater and Auditorium, located on the ground floor, hosts various talks and programs. It was one of the first places I visited on campus as part of freshman orientation week.
• 114 Boylston Street/College Bookstore: Originally, Emerson’s bookstore was located in the lobby of the Little Building. It moved down the street shortly before I graduated. It’s an improvement over the old one in terms of the Emerson merchandise offered, and, of course, the variety of books.

So, there you have it, my own musings about what Emerson College was, and is. I kind of wish that Emerson retained property on Beacon Street, since that was part of its charm for me - a small communications college, complete with brownstone buildings. However, with the changing times comes the need for commercial appeal. Emerson’s buildings might come and go, but I will always have my college memories

Aside from compensation I might receive from my Suite101 article, I’m not an affiliate for any of the sites in this post that I link to or mention in any way.