Living on campus opens up great opportunities for students, as they are constantly immersed in events and academics, and they get to experience life on their own.
Newman sophomore Gabrielle Alténor gave some insight into what it is like to live in campus housing.
Alténor is quite involved on campus. She is vice president of the Black Student Union, a member of the Asian Students Association, an honors student, Future Legal Professionals of Newman fellowship coordinator and a resident assistant.
Apart from her extracurricular and work-based activities, she has a heavy academic schedule as a biology major and Spanish minor in the pre-law program.
Alténor, who lives in Beata Hall, described what the housing’s set-up and atmosphere is like.
“In the residents’ rooms, they have pods. So within each room, there is a living room setting with a kitchenette, two bathrooms, two storage closets and then five bedrooms.”
Describing the amount of activity, she expressed that “it’s usually pretty busy around here, especially in the mornings and afternoons because of (athletic) practices.”
Alténor also mentioned the many events that are open to residents.
“Every month, the residents have provided to them three events — two per floor, and also a full building event. They could be social, recreational, service, all of those types of categories. It’s good to live on campus just because there (are) not only these events, but there are whatever events that most commuter students will not come back for.”
Referring to events and extracurriculars, Alténor explained, “Living in the dorms really helps me get involved, because I definitely would not be doing everything that I do on campus if I lived at home still.”
Newman’s community feels close and even family-like, and Alténor believes that its housing is partially responsible for such a warm atmosphere.
“Just even living together with people … that’s enough to give them a sense of community because they are essentially becoming siblings; they live together, they have a room next door, if they need anything, they’re there and they can help each other out.”
In addition to feeling more involved in events, living on campus can also help students to stay engrossed in their studies.
“You can roll up out of bed, and go to class. It helps (to) be close to resources like the library and tutors for classes.”
Living on campus is typically the first time someone will be away from their parents, which is a growing experience for both parties.
“You feel like you’re independent. If you need your alone time, or if you just feel like (you) need a nap in between classes — because some days are rough, and getting through it after not only class but extracurriculars — having a place to go nap real quick helps.
“What we have (are) the essentials,” Alténor added. “That’s enough for us, because we have that sense of community. Even if you’ve had one class with this one person that you don’t talk to on a regular basis, when you are both in the library printing something off, you’re going to check in on each other.
“They actually know who you are, and the students actually know who you are. That sense of community is here.”
