My first year at SCO, I followed the crowd and lived on Mud Island. I have no complaints about the island, and I think it’s a great choice for when you don’t know the city very well. But once I got to know Memphis a little better, I found lots of hidden gems and realized I wanted to be in the heart of it all—midtown! My best friend and I explored the plentiful inexpensive, large houses in the area, and we quickly found one that we absolutely loved.
Living in Midtown, I’m close to everything that I need: Kroger is right in the middle of my commute from school, gas stations are plentiful, and CVS is open 24/7 just a block away. I'm also only a six-minute drive from school. This has been incredibly helpful, especially as a second-year. Back in the fall, I had to spend a lot of time in the lab practicing new, difficult skills. This semester, I'm working on getting faster at old skills for pre-clinical checkouts. I’ve been grateful for the short commute every time that I’ve stopped by the school on an evening or weekend.
Birthday dinner at Babalu with friends!
Midtown also puts me closer to a lot of activities. A short walk from my house takes me to Overton Square, where there are lots of cute little stores, bars, and restaurants, including my favorite Memphis spot, Babalu. My roommate and I enjoy taking strolls around the neighborhood to get some sunshine during midterm weeks. Other days we head to Overton Park to roller skate, bike, or take my dog to the dog park. But we are also a short drive away from my favorite place in the city—Memphis Rox!
Memphis Rox is a uniquely amazing nonprofit gym that doubles as a community center. In addition to various community programs, it offers free yoga and climbing classes, a full gym, and climbing meetups for different demographics. It also employs a pay-what-you-can model with a suggested student rate of $25 per month—cheaper than a day pass at most climbing gyms. I discovered Memphis Rox online before moving to Memphis, and decided to check it out my first week of school even though I was brand new to climbing. Climbing has turned out to be an amazing way to de-stress. I love the problem-solving aspect and how quickly you improve. It’s also extremely fun to go in a group, and I have many times used my free guest pass to introduce friends to the gym. Sometimes I even meet and climb with SCO students from other class-years whom I would have otherwise never gotten to know.
One of my favorite climbs!
I am incredibly happy with my decision to move to Midtown and cannot recommend it enough. You will catch me here until I graduate!