Heritage Halls

Next on our list of on-campus housing options is Heritage Halls. Once again, since I did not live at Heritage Halls, I asked a friend who lived there last year and here's what he had to say about it. Thanks Kyle Borcik

The Apartment Layout:

You will be sharing a room with another person, aka two beds in one bedroom.

All the dorms are like this, no escaping it if that isn't your style.

However give it a try and it is a great way to really bond with someone. Just like when you had to share with you sister. Keep your fingers crossed that the person you get assigned cleans up after themselves. You each have a closet, share a desk, and your own set of cabinets.

Each apartment has three bedrooms inside it. So it will be you and your assigned roomate and two other rooms just like yours. Then there is a kitchen so that you can do lots of you're own cooking (this really helps you feel away from home: i.e. the real college experience). The kitchen doubles as a living room, they have a couch in there to watch movies and hangout.

The opposite sex is not allowed in the bedrooms but is welcome anytime before midnight in the kitchen and living room. Unlike Helaman Halls, that only has two hours set aside where the opposite sex can come in and visit--lame. They do most of their socializing in their lobbys.

The Food Situation:

Chances are you are on a meal plan as a freshman. When I was a freshmen, Heritage had the best meal plan. Helamen was limited to certain places. This might have changed but you can use your meal plan at:

Creamery, Cougareat, Legends Grill (Athletics Bldg), The Blue Line Grill (Tanner Bldg), MOA cafe (Upstairs of the Museum of Art), Canon Center. Any place on campus you had access to.

This is extremely important because at the canon center you will get tired of the canon center every day. It is important to get some variety and Heritage has it for you.

The down side is that there is no vending machines in Heritage Halls (unless recently added).

Social Life:

Heritage Halls is not near as social as Helaman Halls. If you are new and looking to make friends, start with your roomates. Chances are one is from close-by and has grown up with people that go to BYU. When they go meet people, find a polite way to tag along. Go from there. Like a tree branch out from friends to their friends to their friends and their roomates and so on. Don't be afraid to ask to hang out or ask for phone numbers from people you have just met. Invite them to tag along with you sometime. Even better make friends with someone in Helaman and get them to show you around. The canon center is a great way to meet people.

The Fun Stuff:

There is a volleyball court. Find a friend with a volleyball and enjoy meeting new people and the sport. If finding people is a problem, knocking on random people's doors and asking strangers to come play is not uncommon. Not to mention you make some more friends.

The creamery is closeby, enjoy some time getting some ice cream or eating at the grill. The best deal at the frill is the kids meal. It is the creameies biggest secret. It is four dollars, you get burger fries drink and ice cream.

There is a giant field close by on the northside of the dorms. It is right outside where you go to church. Start up a game of ulitmate or soccer. Or learn how to slack line.

Walk to the Marriot Center at night time and play hide and seek. Kinda childish and lame, grab the right people and you can turn it around pretty quick and have a good time.

In the basement of each hall it comes equipped with either a pool table or ping pong table and basic television and cable. Time to hone your skills.

Overall, plenty to do. Not socially deprived, the best living arrangements and more free on opposite sex visiting, and the best meal plan. Heritage is a great place to live.

Here is the link to look at BYU's information on Heritage Halls

The Commons at the Cannon Center

If you live at Helaman Halls, you should get a meal plan. As a freshmen, you most likely won't have a car, which rules out convenient grocery shopping. Also, in contrast to Heritage Halls and Wyview Park, Helaman Halls have no kitchen in your living space. So even if you wanted to be a dedicated cook your first year, it will be much harder to do than you think. Also, you might not realize it now, but moving away from home can be a pretty stressful experience at times. Not having to worry about food is one less thing for you to deal with your first year out.

Behold, I present to you The Commons at the Cannon Center.
(You should actually click on that link. Their website is user friendly and provides great pictures. Their hours of operation are important to pay attention too. Make sure you memorize when breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served hot!)

The Cannon Center is not only the closest food to you, but has a really great social atmosphere. If you're afraid of the freshman 15, this place is the reason why. But in my opinion, it is one of the best things BYU ever built. The Cannon Center is buffet style and with one swipe of your Signature Card, you have access to it all.
As I mentioned earlier, this place has a great social atmosphere. It is one of the great perks of eating there. Almost every time you go, you see people you know, meet people you didn't know, and can even spend much more time there than you'd expect.
Not only is the Cannon Center essential to getting the full experience of Helaman Halls, but don't forget about the vending machines you'll have access to 24/7. They really are a beautiful thing.

If you were having doubts about obtaining a meal plan, I hope you don't now.
You can click here for information about the available Meal Plans

These pictures were taken when it was just finishing up on construction last spring/summer

Wyview Park

Next up on our list of dorms for most freshman to live in is Wyview.

Wyview Park is the newest accommodation for freshman. Previously married housing, Wyview has been remodeled and furnished for comfortable living. Amenities include a refrigerator, a microwave, and furniture. Vacuums are available for check-out from your RA during cleaning checks.

Wyview is an apartment style dorm. Unlike Heritage, there is no commons or central area to meet. One would walk straight into their apartment from the outside. This has provided controversy to some freshman, saying that it has been harder to meet people that way.

Wyview has accommodations for three or four roommate apartments. There are three floors per building, and two to three stairwells per building, with six apartments per stairwell. Those who wish to live with four people should know that very right most apartments are the only apartments that can accommodate four people.

In each three person apartment, there is one shared bedroom (the students will use bunkbeds) and one single room. (In the case of a four person apartment, there are two single rooms and one shared room.) There is one bathroom per apartment.

Wyview has the same visiting hours as a regular BYU-approved off-campus apartment has. Members of the opposite gender are permitted in the living room and kitchen until midnight, and on Friday they are permitted until 1:30 am.

While Wyview is arguable the most comfortable place to live while living in the BYU dorms, it is also the furthest away from campus. A good half-hour walk from campus, many students opt to buy a bus pass or hitch rides from friends.

There is also a chapel in Wyview Park, but keep in mind that not all wards will meet in there. The chapel is in the Wyview central building, which is where one would go if they have lost a key or even attend ward prayer. Next door to the central building is the Wyview Creamery. It is a small creamery but it has the basic foods that most people need. In the back of the Creamery is the laundry facility. The washers and dryers will only take quarters or money from a student's signature card (the latter method is cheaper).

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask!
A special thanks to Li-Sha for giving me this information (because I never lived at Wyview)

Helaman Hall Video

This is a video of my daily walk from my dorm to the new Canon Center. There are also clips of my daily drive in Las Vegas where I am from. I was comparing my two lives from the two cities I have lived in.

My Walk from Alex Vaughn on Vimeo.

Housing

When you decide to move on out of your parent's house and haul your life to another city, you want to make sure you pick the right place for you to live. That might seem obvious, but some of you might not have the chance to take a look around Provo or campus before signing yourself up for something you might not end up enjoying. Don't pick where you'll live based on anything other than what you think is best for yourself.

A common question I've noticed, is who am I going to live with?
My advice is not to worry. Everything always works out in one way or another. If you are truly unhappy with your roommate, switching rooms or apartments isn't out of the question and is actually fairly common.

THE DORMS.
Most freshmen end up in them, so I'm starting there.
You have three options right now. Helaman Halls, Heritage Hall, or Wyview.

When I lived in the dorms, I lived in Helaman Halls, so I have less to say about Heritage & Wyview. I believe they all have their advantages, but once again, you should choose a place that fits you.

HELAMAN HALL FEATURES
Here is a link to BYU's information about Helaman Halls
I honestly don't think that their website has great pictures or really helps you to know what they are like. But basically, right now there are eight halls (4 boys, 4 girls). And they have some monstrosity of a building under construction down there that I'm assuming will become another dorm (or two) in the future.
They all have lobbies (with vending machines! Details later), a basement (with hang out space, piano rooms, kitchen stoves, storage space, and laundry machines), a mini loft-like lobby on the second floor (same sex only), etc.

Each building has three floors.
1st floor: Pros--no stairs to climb to get to your room, closest to the vending machines, moving in is the easiest. Cons--I felt less safe because the windows are not completely burglar proof, you're closer to the lobby, sometimes it doesn't feel like you are away from all the action.
2nd floor: middle ground. It is the best to be on in my opinion. Also the suites are found on this floor.
3rd floor: Pros--best view, feels the furthest away from all the commotion of dorm life. Cons--lots of stairs to climb everyday, makes moving in a bigger hassle, farthest away from vending machines.

Other than that, wards are also determined by what hallway you are in. For example: all first floor girls that live in Hinckley Hall are in the same ward. They are paired with the first floor boys in another building.

ROOMS
Almost every room is exactly the same, except for the lucky few that live in the suites (details later). They look like this:Each room consists of two beds, two closets, two desks, one mini fridge, one window, one sink/mirror. You do not have a bathroom in your room, there is a communal bathroom in every hallway. When you show up, your bed will most likely be low to the ground. The first thing you should do is change that. You'll find that when you raise your bed, you have tons more storage space for all those clothes you just couldn't leave at home. It's also good to keep in mind that you will eventually be moving out of the dorms, so hold on to as many of the original boxes under there that you can, so moving out is easier on you.

Here are some other things you should know:-BYU provides some linens, but you have no idea how many people have used those over the years. I recommend to everyone that you should bring your own.

-All room doors automatically lock when they close. Make sure you bring your room key with you wherever you go so you don't get locked out. If you do though, each hall has an RA that is assigned to you, and if they are in their room they can unlock it for you. Careful though, sometimes they are in class and cannot be reached. It is much safer to just keep your key with you. Your RA is the person you will go to for any of your dorm needs. They will be the one who does your cleaning checks, holds hall meetings, and restocks the toilet paper when you're out ;)

-You will have frequent cleaning checks, but each hall has cleaning supplies that will be sufficient enough. You don't need to provide your own.

-People of the opposite sex are not allowed in your room, unless during visiting hours. They are held twice a week. Wednesday nights and Sunday nights from 7 pm-9 pm. The door must be open during this time. The opposite sex is however allowed inside your dorm building lobby until 12 am every night (1:30 am on Friday nights). The Helaman halls have a pool table, piano, couches, Foosball table, and TV in all of the lobbies. There are also games that you can rent from the office.

-The second floor of every dorm has two suites. These rooms are bigger than all the other rooms in the dorms. If you can, look into trying to get one of these. Trust me, they are much nicer than the other rooms.

-The laundry room takes quarters only. Usually there is a machine or two open always. I would recommend using this.

Questions about Helaman Halls? Ask away.

First Things First

I am a student at Brigham Young University and I decided to make this blog in order to help incoming freshmen who--lets face it--don't know a thing about college yet. I will post tips, opinions, experiences, and answer questions anyone has.

Lets start off by showing some pictures of what campus actually looks like. Not all of us went to EFY here folks.