<p>I lived in Johnson my freshman year. The people that I met there are still my closest friends. My boyfriend lived a floor above me. Here’s my opinion:</p>
<p>In general:
Closest dorm to Tribble (wake up at 9:25 for 9:30 class!)
Cleaner than the other freshman dorms I went into
I made close friends, but in no way did I not meet people from other dorms or other grades. Classes and clubs make up for any perceived gaps. At least half of the girls on my floor rushed, and I know that a fair number on the other floors did too.</p>
<p>Substance Related:
I don’t drink, so it was nice to have a built in set of people who knew how to have fun without substance assistance. However, I knew a lot of people who did drink. Some of them signed up for substance free, and then felt like experimenting when they got to Wake; some signed up because Mom and Dad said to, and they couldn’t wait to get sloshed; some ended up in Johnson because of a housing crunch; a lot of people (myself including) just didn’t feel like being around alcohol on a regular basis. It’s also nice for those of us with say, an allergy to cigarette smoke, or those like my Johnson roommate who needed a little quieter environment at times because she’s epileptic. </p>
<p>The thing that Johnson does is this: provides flexibility. If you want to go get drunk or just have a social drink or whatever, no one is really stopping you (the RAs basically say that as long as you aren’t drinking in the dorm and you don’t come back making a heck of a racket/puking/acting drunk in the public areas, they would rather you come back to where you are safe than wander campus or strange dorms). However, if some Friday night you don’t feel like going out/you have a big project/you have a headache, your room and your hall is a much quieter place than many of the other dorms. It’s sort of like your shelter from the storm; you can choose to use it when you need it or get your party fix on when you want to.</p>