University Residence Life can create mixed emotions, since housing applications open for the 2017-2018 academic year with new options, including a lottery system.
University students are required to live on campus their first two years to adjust to college life, with the possibility of creating lifelong friendships.
While Residence Life allows students to choose who they live with, the lottery system put into place to pick housing caused some students to be placed with random roommates.
The housing lottery was not frustrating, but nerve-wracking, according to second-year visual communication technology major, Samantha Piroska.
Students described the housing lottery as “survival of the fittest,” where they had to pick a room at their designated time and hope their friends had close selection times, so a stranger would not enter the room and take the spot. There was also a new option for sophomores who wanted to live on-campus: apartments.
The apartments are being subleased through Greenbriar Inc., but are considered part of ResLife, meaning they are on-campus, even though they are located about a street away. The apartments create more space in the residence halls for the incoming freshmen, as juniors and seniors are encouraged to live off-campus.
Freshman and undecided major, LeighAnn Harris, shared her thoughts on housing and the apartments.
“I truly have not picked yet, because I was waitlisted for the apartments, which is another frustration because I have not heard back yet,” Harris said.
The University has changed the way students pick housing multiple times in the past few years, whether it be based on the merit of a student or when the housing deposit was placed.
“I would let us pick our rooms in the order that we pay the $200 deposit,” junior communication issues major Katherine Gross said.
Regardless of the room-selection frustration, every year students may make new connections in the dorms.
“I met my best friends across the hall from me my freshman year, and we have been together forever, so I think it builds community,” senior women’s gender and sexuality studies major Alex Ryan said.
Living in a close proximity to other students also creates an opportunity to make memories they can remember for a lifetimes.
“There is never a dull moment in the dorms; there is always something going on,” freshmen philosophy major Jacob Fowler said.
As housing comes to a close for students other than incoming freshmen, many students are left to prepare for the fall semester and their new housing assignments. Some may find their new best friends, while others find themselves wishing for a single room.
