When I moved out of my home state of Oregon to the bustling city of Denver, I was completely ready for new changes and experiences. I found an apartment complex on the outskirts of downtown Denver called Assembly Student Living, and I was so excited to move in. It's a complex that caters to the chaotic lives of college students, and the rent is relatively cheap compared to other complexes. I had the chance to move in a little over a month before everyone else came on August 20th, 2021. When I first moved in, there was a security gate you had to access with your room key in order to even get into the complex. Right before everyone moved in, the first red flag was when the entire gate was removed. When I first came here, the security was the first thing my family and I noticed, and were huge fans of. Myself and many others are living on their own for the first time, some from out of state even, so just the presence of a security gate was comforting. When that was taken away from us, I had no idea what was to come. Since the removal of the gate, there have been a countless amount of sightings of people dumping their trash in our bins, and random people walking around the parking lot at night.

Things only took a turn for the worst from there. About a week after hundreds moved in, that was when the installation of the Van Gogh Exhibit was announced. Obviously, this came as a shock to many, as there was absolutely no mention of it before we signed our leases. I was especially shocked when I learned that Assembly Student Living had signed a 10 year contract with the exhibit.

After a great deal of changes, the Van Gogh Exhibit finally became open to the public. This is when a substantial amount of issues came about. Parking space is extremely limited, especially for those living in the Tower portion who were basically told to move or get towed. As well as that, there have been an incredible amount of different experiences by residents where people attending the Van Gogh exhibit were rude to them, or just plain unpleasant. There has also been the issue of exhibit attendees dropping off or loading up in the middle of the road, while student residents are trying to get to school, and risk being late because of the blatant disregard for others. On top of that, the prices are insane, which many students who are on a budget can't afford, so even though it's in our space, many can't even attend. Overall, the Van Gogh Exhibit in Denver has brought nearly nothing but negative experiences for myself and the residents of Assembly Student Living. With that, the Van Gogh Exhibit should be full on removed, or at the very least relocated to a different place in Denver. Denver is a large city, and there are many places that would be able to house the exhibit without impeding on the immediate lives of others. I believe I can say with confidence that its removal would be a positive change for Assembly Student Living, as many current residents will not be willing to renew their lease next year if the Van Gogh Exhibit remains.