After living in the hall as a resident her first year, Allison Sharpe became an RA in Perkins Hall for her next three years at OU.
Graduating Ohio University seniors are gearing up to say goodbye to Athens, but Allison Sharpe also is saying farewell to her home during the past four years — Perkins Hall.
Unlike most students, Sharpe never moved off campus, instead opting to continue living in the residence hall on East Green.
“I fell in love with OU when I first stepped on campus, and I kept falling in love with it,” Sharpe, a Centerville, Ohio, native, said.
Perkins Hall was built in 1953 and originally served as a dorm for 210 male students, according to OU’s website. Unlike other residence halls on East Green, Perkins has not been renovated recently, but that has not deterred Sharpe from living there.
“No, it's not the newest dorm on campus but I love it,” she said. “The atmosphere is great. The people are what make it so wonderful.”
Sharpe, a senior studying communication, said OU has made her a more outgoing person and living in Perkins helped her come out of her shell.
“I met Allison when I was enrolled in my RA class,” Enrique Hermosilla, resident director for Perkins Hall, said. “She was quiet and reserved. I hired her to become a part of my team, and soon after a new Allison emerged.”
After living in the hall as a resident her first year, Sharpe became an RA for her next three years at OU.
“I am glad (being assigned to Perkins) happened,” Sharpe said. “Part of me just feels like it was fate.”
Sharpe said she struggled to find her niche at OU because she had not decided her major her first year. As an RA, she finds many freshmen struggling with similar issues and tries to give them advice. Sharpe loves to help her residents assimilate to OU by taking them to football and basketball games.
“If there is a game, I’ll be there,” Sharpe said. “Honestly, it's one of my favorite things to do.”
Hermosilla said he is impressed with Sharpe’s dedication to her residents.
“Two years ago, we all went to a football game, and the temperature was in the teens,” Hermosilla said, adding that Sharpe is a “very committed Bobcat.”
As others have moved off campus, Sharpe’s home in Perkins has not been an issue for her friends.
"It was really special because most people don't live in the same place every year,” Allison Mannix, a senior studying media arts and studies, said. “You always knew where Allie would be because Allie always lived in Perkins, and she knew everything about the place.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="85cd537c-0667-11e6-8771-4b44a3d2b663"}}
Besides her four-year tenure as a resident of Perkins Hall, Sharpe also is known among her friends as a proud OU student.
“Allison encompasses the Bobcat spirit, loving everything about Ohio University and taking advantage of every opportunity she can throughout her four years here,” Michelle Shively, an adviser for OU’s Kappa Phi chapter, which Sharpe is currently the president of, said.
Sharpe said after graduation she will return to Centerville, where she has accepted a job at Reynolds and Reynolds, a software company for car dealers and automakers.
"OU has taught me a lot about myself. I learned to take risks and go after what I want,” she said. “Athens is just so gorgeous, you know. Walking on Athens’ bricks, it’s a feeling of being home. I'm going to miss it.”
@BrookEndale
