What an Augsburg apartment looks like

I'm looking at Reyka Huq's collection of shot glasses in her room.

It's impressive. She has about 20 sitting on her dresser, and they're from all over the world. Some are gifts, but a lot are just souvenirs from her travels.

She finds them more interesting than post cards, for example, and finds them easy to pick up at gift shops and airports.

"They're a good conversation starter," she says.

I raise an eyebrow and chuckle, and it sounds like she gets my kind of questions a lot.

Yes, she drinks. No, she's not an alcoholic. Yes, her parents are often with her when she buys them.

And her room is neat -- as is her apartment, and I don't get the impression she just cleaned up for me.

Huq lives in Luther Hall, a low-rise building offering apartment-style living. (The two big towers one sees from the freeway tend to hold freshmen and sophomores in the traditional dorm format.)

It's a pretty airy building, and not as dark and cramped as ones at other colleges that I've seen. Huq has her own room, but two other roommates share the other room in the apartment.

She says the place is generally pretty quiet, though Augsburg dorms don't get particularly rowdy as a general rule.

Augsburg encourages -- but doesn't require -- students to live in the dorms for the first two years, and about half of its students (that's all four years) do.

Ruq cooks her meals here in the kitchen, which is why she hasn't been on the meal plan for a while.

"I'm a pretty good cook," she says.

Here time in the dorms is short, though. She's graduating and will take a job as an auditor in January -- meaning she'll be more on her own.

She says she loves the freedom of living on her own in the city -- but will sure miss the convenience of living close to campus.

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