It's no secret that college life could be extremely busy, hectic and stressful for any student. But for juniors Elizabeth Burke, Amy Roznos and Magen Clayton, the perfect stress reliever came on Thursday nights in the form of laugh-out-loud "TV Watch Parties." "The Office" was an award-winning American comedy television show that aired on NBC and had been successful since its premiere in 2005. In 2010, many students were as dedicated to the show as ever. According to Roznos, "The Office" was "lighthearted, and of course hilarious," filled with over-the-top characters, laughter and just the right amount of drama. "We've been watching "The Office" for as long as I can remember us being friends," Clayton said. It all began in Burke's room in Sears dorm during the girls' freshman year in fall2008. They came together as a casual group of friends who shared a common interest in the show. They soon developed a strong friendship and a strong devotion to keeping up with the fictional paper company Dunder Mifflin and the characters' lives in Scranton, Penn. According to Burke, the girls decided to make it an official tradition to meet and watch the show together when they realized how important it was in bringing them together. "'The Office'was part of my schedule even before I came to Harding, so it was easy to transfer that habit over," Roznos said. Over time, the girls became even busier, and their schedules were sometimes difficult to line up on Thursday nights, so they relied on the website Hulu to catch what was missed as soon as they possibly could. Burke even described one instance when they got up early enough to watch the episode they had missed before chapel. "That's dedication," Burke said. Each episode of "The Office" was only about 20 minutes long, giving the girls plenty of opportunities to catch up on other things such as homework, socializing and just relaxing. "When Iam watching 'The Office,' Itry to let all my cares from the week go- at least for half an hour," Roznos said. Thursday nights quickly became the girls' favorite part of the week. Of course, since the seasons were released on DVD, the girls were able to have impromptu "Office Parties" whenever they needed a laugh or a study break. So why "The Office"? , - "Because I hope to wor~ in a place just like that some day,'' Burke said. After all, "The office is a place where dreams come true," according to Michael ~~tt, regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Compar1f in Scranton. Cobr!elle Pruitt · doily life 2 9
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