 "Photo: Elizabeth Sorrell")
 "Photo: Elizabeth Sorrell")
When your living on campus, walking the line between responsibility and temptation becomes an everyday thing. Within the endless supply of social and academic opportunities, students often find themselves trapped.
Dorm residents have unique situations. They have an inside track on everything academic because they live on campus. But some live in rooms that are too small. And others have to hope that household appliances provided by the school last until the end of the semester. To top it all off, communal living, with all of its bells and whistles, can tempt students to put their education on the back burner to focus on their social lives.
As they scarfed down breakfast at the “J” dining hall, freshmen football players, Jordan Kennedy-Smith and Orie Lupeare, said they liked their rooms. Lupeare lives in Cypress hall and Kennedy-Smith lives in the Canyon. Although both men agreed their rooms are small, they said it is not a big deal and everything works. Kennedy-Smith wishes he could have cable in his room for less than $55, and more room for his computer though.
Lupeare and Kennedy-Smith said 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. are designated “quiet hours,” so studying has not been a problem. Lupeare would be happy if the dorms were more interconnected though. “I have to walk down from Cypress to meet new people,” said
Lupeare. “It’s just harder [to socialize] from certain spots.”
Former resident of Redwood Halls, HSU senior, Aaron Buratti-Lam tells a different story. He said it was loud and practically no one followed the 10-to-10 policy. Living in the dorms gave him a false sense of community, which deprived him from getting to know Arcata. “The people you live with all come from the same background, and that does not get you ready for the real world,” he said.
Despite early morning classes and weekend concerts right outside the front door, living on campus made it difficult to stay on schedule said Buratti-Lam. It was a problem because he did not have to partition time the way someone living off campus and commuting to school would. The lack of accountability led to him being placed on academic probation at the end of his freshman year. The temptation smorgasbord did not help with scheduling either. “The dorms are hotbeds of decadence and hedonism,” said Buratti-Lam.
Serbian exchange student, Vedrana Radosavljevic lives at the Creekview Apartments--home to the International Living community. She has privacy, yet her room is big enough to have friends over. Other than there being no wireless Internet, she said everything in her apartment works, and living close to the other exchange students helps with the transition to HSU.
Freshman James Kim, 18, lives at the Campus Apartments, which mainly houses transfers and people over 20, until HSU Housing and Dining puts him with the other freshmen.
Because he has a vast space and is right next door to the common room, Kim said he loves his apartment. Except for a sputtering shower head and the fact that the building slightly leans, everything in his apartment works. Even though he has such a great room, he still wants to move to the freshmen dorms because of the social opportunities.
With his own kitchen and only one roommate, sophomore Justin Purnell’s impression of the dorms is positive. He feels lucky that he was placed in the Campus Apartments.
“These are way calmer than the freshmen dorms,” Purnell said. “I’ve heard horror stories about throwup in the hallways.”
Is your social life more important than academic success? For some it can go either way. Regardless, students face this decision over and over throughout their college careers. But students living in the dorms face this decision everyday. Maintaining a balance is not easy said Purnell, but it is possible as long as you are ambitious and driven.
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