I think Fairfield is just about the only university that has sophomores apply for residential colleges. I live in a residential college and it does have its good points, as well as some negative aspects.
First of all, in my freshman year, we did not have much of a choice other than to apply for a residential college. Hey, if you weren’t going to apply to one, you were going to be shoved in a corner of Jogues or Kostka, and believe me, I didn’t want to live in either of those. I mean come on, Jogues, the building pushed in the WAY back of the quad, and Kostka, the dorm with the creepy laundry room. No. Way.
So I looked at Claver, and it looked awesome, with the suite style living and all. It’s close to Barone and the library, along with Bannow and the gym. So I put Claver first on my application and placed 70 McCormick second on my list, because it would be nice to have a new building, and still be close to the heart of campus.
I think the intention of Fairfield and Residence Life was that students would apply for their sophomore dorms based on the residential college cause that best suited them.
But maybe what Fairfield and Residence Life don’t understand is that we’re sophomores. We want to live near our friends. We don’t want a far walk to Barone on a snowy day. We want to share rooms with our friends from freshman year. We’re not focused on the theme of the residential college as much as we were intended to be.
I got into my second choice for my residential college, 70 McCormick. It’s a beautiful building, the programs are fun, and the retreats are not as dreadful as everyone makes them out to be. But the problem is that I didn’t go into this dorm with the intention of “serving” for “justice” as I should have been. I went into this dorm because I’m a clean freak, and the building was brand spankin’ new, and who could refuse those bathrooms that are similar to those of a hotel?
So maybe this is the reason why Fairfield is taking away some of the possible choices for residential colleges. Because of people like me that only applied to get the building and location they wanted, rather than the calling of the theme of the residential college. The fact that applying to the residential colleges was basically mandatory is not the way that college students should have to choose their housing. The removal of some of the residential colleges is definitely a good thing, since it will make the residents living in these communities more selective, and those who only want to live in the building will not be as plentiful as this year.
And as for me, I’m thankful that I won’t need to write anymore essays that will decide the fate of where I’ll be spending a year of my college life. Junior housing lottery, here I come.
– Sent from my BlackBerry
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