Sophomores living in the three residential colleges on campus attended a Welcome Back Night last Thursday to reconnect with their peers and to learn more about the programs and events they will be participating in during the spring semester.

The residential colleges, including the Creative Life Residential College, the Ignatian Residential College and the Service for Justice Residential College, each offer unique educational opportunities outside the classroom for sophomores to explore while completing their second year at Fairfield.

“The community we have and the long lasting relationships I’ve built make me never want to leave res colleges at Fairfield,” said Hannah Horvath ’14, who is also a resident assistant in the Ignatian Residential College.

Sophomores who participate in the residential colleges go on a retreat each semester and meet with mentor groups to discuss difficult spiritual discovery and social diversity, and reflect on the impact of their college experiences thus far.

Dr. Joseph DeFeo, associate dean of students and director of student development mission and identity programs, said that “the mentor group ties all the students together. As the semester continues, the groups get more in-depth because they know each other better.”

Students are challenged to answer three overarching questions proposed by the residential colleges that will help them interact and engage with one another throughout the year.

DeFeo explained that the first part of the year is focused on the question, “Who am I?” which allows students to learn more about themselves as they enter the new residential college community. The second semester focuses on the second question, “Whose am I?” which explores the individual in the context of the communities around them.

During the Welcome Back Night, students drew pictures in their mentor groups that reflected their ideas of answering the question, “Whose am I?”

Throughout the year, students have the opportunity to participate in engaging conversations, meeting faculty and staff at informal events and making an impact on the tradition of residential colleges through the mentor environment, DeFeo said.

“The sense of community and the type of people in the building are very nice,” said Ignatian Residential College resident Caite Diver ‘16. “It is a very welcoming environment.”

The residential colleges focus on bringing students together in a tight community, one that will help them grow and understand more about the world around them.

“[Residential] colleges offer students a way to connect with their entire building through the retreats,” said Ignatian Residential College Alumni Mentor Chris Cahill ’14. “Through the seven to eight person mentor groups, sophomores talk to their peers on a deeper level and also learn a lot about themselves.”

Junior Alan Pelaez, an RA in the Service for Justice Residential College, said that sophomores “come into [Service for Justice] thinking they are going to do charity, but then they end up doing justice-based work that benefits the community and them.”

DeFeo said that residential colleges “bring [students] into a larger sense of what the Fairfield community is about.”

The main events that sophomores look forward to in this semester include dinner series with faculty members, weekly “happy hours,” group community service, the Ignatian Seminar which discusses the three overarching questions and the Residential Ball, a dance solely for students in residential colleges to attend.

“I enjoy the concept of a weekly community building because you get to meet new people and you can associate the name with the face,” said Benjamin Bravo ’16. “They become not just another person in the hallway, they become your friend.”

Freshmen who wish to live in one of the residential colleges next year can apply on the Fairfield website by March 3.

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