Hi there! My name is Mara, a rising Senior biology major here at Reed. For the past three years, I have lived in three different Cross Canyon residence halls. I’m here to shine some light on the wonderful communities that call this area group home.
My first year, I lived in Woodbridge in a triple, which resembles an undivided double plus an additional divided room. Woodbridge, McKinley, and Griffin were all a part of the Tir na Nog theme community, a theme revolving around sci-fi and fantasy. One of the most noticeable traits of these buildings is the window paint: every year, we blast music and eat donuts to fuel a day of mural painting across the vast glass walls of the old cross canyon buildings.
[Pro tip: click on the images to zoom in!]
The Woodbridge common room has affectionately been termed The Shire, for it is far, far away from the other Tir na Nog buildings (though in actuality, it is a 30 second walk away).
My dorm really felt like a home, and my dormies felt like a family. We took a hiking trip to the Columbia River Gorge and took an overnight stay in the Reed ski cabin. The night we danced to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” after playing in the snow and thawing in the sauna will always be bright in my memory.
Our Resident Director that year hosted paint wars, one of my favorite events, where we all grab tubes of brightly colored paint and “battle” with them on the soccer field.
Photo credit: Nayland Olsen
Sophomore year, I lived on the second floor of Bragdon in a single. Bragdon itself is an un-themed residence hall, but I still had swipe card access to “the Nog” for whenever I missed the sci-fi fantasy lifestyle.
Bragdon has three kitchens and three very different common rooms, the most beautiful of which has a vaulted ceiling and a fireplace that reaches all the way to the top. This was where we held the Bragdon Soiree, a fancy night where I learned how to blues dance while eating delicious, ambitious appetizers.
But my favorite part of living in Bragdon was the amazing view I had from my window.
On the far left is Chittick, one of the old cross canyon dorms, which has recently become the Music Appreciation Dorm. They’ve hosted concerts on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and the occasional Friday night, and residents spontaneously jam in the common room. It’s a small venue and a great opportunity to see your friends make music together in a setting that is generally very comfortable and respectful.
Junior Year, I was the HA of McKinley, one of the Tir na Nog buildings. McKinley is attached to Griffin, which earns the whole building the name McGriffly. McGriffly houses the most sacred of Nog heritage sites: The Danger Room; a common room born of the joining of the two halves of the building. Both Griffin and McKinley have a kitchen, small dining area, and lofted common room. Griffin’s loft is called the Fortress of Solitude, and McKinley’s is the Bat Cave. Because the Nog has been around for many years, the common spaces have collected vast stores of communal books, board games, Magic cards, and fandom trinkets.
The window paintings were excellent, as usual.
Photo and art credit: Storm Sprague
We carried out other Nog traditions such as Nog Thanksgiving, a potluck in the Danger Room of epic proportions that never disappoints. It gives current and past residents of the Nog as well as “satellites” (members of the community who do not live in the building) a place to catch up with each other and eat an egregious amount of food.
The cross canyons have hosted barbecues, potato sack races, sidewalk chalk drawings, and events such as Princess Bride & Pajamas, Red Wall Feast, and a day of ice cream sundaes and video games. This is an eclectic area group that nurtures a community of diverse hobbies, interests, and skills. There will always be something new to discover here, whether it is new music, new games, new foods, or new friends.
