Synergy

Happy people live in Synergy. We have a warm and unassuming community. There is always good music playing in the kitchen, and often someone on a guitar or the piano. We throw some great, friendly parties for Halloween and Valentine’s Day, and often host smaller social events and concerts. Every spring, we put on our awesome Beltane festival.

Synergy sits atop a quiet, forested hill, and is an idyllic refuge from the rest of campus. When you walk up our path and pass under the prayer flags, you step into a different world: our big, beautiful white house has a secluded lawn, garden, and forest, and—from the roof—a sweeping view of the campus and the whole bay area. We also have spacious common rooms, four porches, a movie projector room, a great kitchen, and many beautiful doubles and triples.

Like all co-ops, Synergy asks residents to do about 4-5 hours of work every week – this is usually cooking or cleaning, and you can do a different job every week. Synergy is vegetarian (no meat allowed in the kitchen or on any house dishes) and serves dinner Sunday-Thursday. Breakfast, lunch, and midnight snacks are all up to you, but we have a fully stocked kitchen and people will often cook for each other informally during the day.

Synergy is run by consensus, which means every resident has a voice and all decisions must be approved by all members of the house. We hold consensus meetings to decide things like noise and job policies, what social events we will have, etc. Also, we change rooms every quarter, and have a consensus meeting in which we determine and come to an agreement on the new arrangement.

Synergy on the Campus Map

Complete a pre-assignment application

Take a tour of Synergy, do a job at ANY co-op (same as pre-draw criteria)

Commit to doing an “elf job” for the year – about 30 min/week extra work.

Strongly encouraged to come to dinner any night Sun-Thurs before draw

Pre-app requirement for Synergy if you're not on campus to do a job: Write a short essay (1/2-1 page) – or better yet, a poem! (at last 20 lines. Rhyming and wit encouraged but not required) – outlining your understanding of Synergy/co-op life and intentions for the year.

Take a tour of Synergy

Do a job at ANY co-op

Strongly encouraged to come to dinner any night Sun-Thurs before draw

Participate in the house’s consensus decision-making process, and abide by all consensus decisions

Clean up after yourself at all times

Each week, complete a weekly job (2-3 hours), usually cooking or cleaning.

Each quarter, complete 5 quarterly jobs (3 hours each):

• Bathroom Clean
• House Clean
• Kitchen Clean
• End-of-Quarter Clean
• Head Cook

Dan Wiesenthal

House Manager 09-10

jepense@stanford.edu