We all have fond memories of freshman year here at Mercyhurst and for many of us, a lot of those memories were based in Warde Hall.

Warde Hall is still new and has more amenities, like the C-Store, than the other residence halls.

As someone who lived in Baldwin Hall freshman year, I can comfortably say that the C-Store came in handy for almost every student. Even though I did not live in Warde, my Warde friends definitely reaped the benefits and typically never had to walk in the snow to get essentials at CVS.

Most of the time, students would spend money on the bare necessities or on snacks for the late-night study session.

Now that I am a sophomore, I have realized that the upperclassmen do not have anything like the C-Store. Just like the rest of the campus, we have CVS.

As someone who frequents CVS and carries a CVS rewards card everywhere, I can definitely say that it is a great convenience living so close to one.

But I also believe that it is a large distance of travel for those who do not have a car.

The upperclassmen housing on campus is already a few blocks away from classes and a good distance away from the local drugstore. So during the blustery Erie winters, it is quite difficult to trek from one side of the campus to the other.

Imagine getting sick in mid-winter and having to either walk from your apartment on upper Briggs to CVS  to get some cold medicine, all in addition to going to class that day and being fatigued from the flu-like symptoms you have been experiencing.  Overall, that is not a pleasant experience.

While the distance itself is inconvenient, the prices at CVS are significantly more than those at the C-Store. The average college student doesn’t have the resources to spend $18 on cold medicine or $3 on a bottle of Pepsi.

For those who cannot afford some of CVS’s prices, the best option for them would be to go the C-Store. But because it is not readily available to those who are not freshmen, the C-Store is not even a valid option.

Although students who have a car have a significant advantage, the majority of people do not have the ability to pay for a car, so they would have to walk a significant distance from one side of campus to a store off-campus.

Even if students have a car, the price of gas takes a toll on their wallets so chances are, they would walk anyway.

While the placement may be tricky, there is most definitely an area on this campus where a small convenience store can fit and price accommodation would definitely help out a lot of the students in general.

Somewhere in between main campus and the upperclassmen area would most definitely suffice and would help those who can’t really go the distance.

Overall, an upperclassmen C-Store would be much less of a hassle for majority of the students at Mercyhurst, especially the upperclassmen. It would shorten the distance of travel during the winter or any kind of bad weather, and it would save the students a decent amount of money.

I believe that this small adjustment would save the upperclassmen energy and money, thus making the college experience more enjoyable and convenient.

The university already attends to almost every need the student may have, but one thing is truly missing and it is convenience.