A Sophomore student enters Gelman library. She’s looking for a place to sit comfortably and lay out her study materials. Floor 2? The computers are taken, the couches are taken, the study rooms are taken. She ascends the stairs to Floor 3 – no luck there either. After spending a half hour searching for a place to study, finally, a study room is open. She settles in, grateful to have finally found a place to study…only to be kicked out 10 minutes later.
Have you ever experienced this? I certainly did when I was a student here. But there is a solution, dear UHPers! The Honors Townhouse!
From 9am – 5pm on Mondays through Fridays, you can come in to the townhouse at 714 21st St NW and make use of our space! It has a lot of components though – so pay careful attention.
Part 1: The Club Room
The Club Room is the communal hub of the townhouse. It’s our most popular study space and where most of our events take place. It’s a great place to study, eat lunch, and just generally hang out. It’s also an excellent “home base” on Foggy Bottom for you Vern-folk! In the words of Trey (SEAS ’20), “When I was a first-year…it was kind of my ‘home away from home.’ And now, again, that I live off campus, it’s true again.”
Part 2: The Kitchen
It is in the kitchen that the true perks of being in the Honors Program come to fruition. If you don’t already know, there is a Keurig machine with tea, coffee, and other delightful drinks to which all UHP students have free and unlimited access! [Edit from 2021: we used to have a water cooler in there as well, but we’ll be getting a new one soon]. The only requirement? Bring your own mug/water bottle. You can always fill up the mug and then sit around and study in the Club Room or basement!
Part 3: The Basement
Not everyone knows about the basement. It’s a unique sort of place. It’s very rare that we have events down there, so it’s almost always open when the townhouse is. It’s usually quiet, secluded, *and* it’s got two whiteboards with an avalanche of markers! Right now, the basement is empty. Fill it with your presence, dear UHPers! In order to access the basement, go down the stairs across from the kitchen, and go to the right!
Part 4: The Front Office
And finally we come to my domain: the front office. The front office isn’t fundamentally a communal space like the Club Room or the Basement, but you’ll often run into faculty, other students, and of course myself here. Feel free to drop by anytime to say hello – I love meeting new students!
Quite often though, the relevancy of this office is the free food! Pro tip: we announce when we have free food on Instagram, so follow us below!
Part 5: The Thoughts of the Community
And finally, for the thoughts of others within our UHP community:
“My favorite part about the townhouse is…besides the free Keurig drinks, it’s a welcoming and warm place to study and have good discussions, to see people from class that you wouldn’t otherwise hang out with.” – Anna Peacher-Ryan, CCAS ’20
“Coffee, food, a place to study. What more could you need?” – Bridget Carl, GWSPH/CCAS ’21
“I love the townhouse, it’s the place where everyone knows your name. I thoroughly enjoy the free coffee, and recently I’ve been also really enjoying the sparkling water. As a former La Croix addict, I really enjoy the sparkling aspect.” – Jason Rucker, SMPA ’22 [Edit from 2021: Again, this comes from an era when we had a water cooler. I promise, we’re getting a new one soon!]
“I love the water and snacks.” – Marshall Deng, CCAS ’21
“[The townhouse is] a locus of intellectual activity on this campus…I spend oodles of time here throughout my week. It’s a very productive place, both intellectually and in terms of my…work.” – Jared Bulla, CCAS ’20
