Taylor Nicole Richards – News Writer
Katie Noske lives in Brownell Hall with three of her good friends and has no plans of moving off campus before she graduates. She is a sophomore from South Windsor and majors in psychology. Noske stays on campus on the weekends and has noticed that many other residents do not do the same. However, staying in the area is what keeps her focused on her future goals.
“I enjoy living here to an extent, mostly because it’s nice to be on my own. It’s an easy atmosphere over here [on campus],” Noske said. “I get more work done living in a dorm than I would if I was a commuter. There’s less distractions because if I need to, I can go to the library to do work as opposed to staying in my house where my family is running around and all the TVs are on at once.”
On weekends, Noske prioritizes going out with her friends over checking out on campus activities. During the day, she goes downtown with them to get food or check out galleries. At night, she said that she always visits people she knows who live in the nearby off campus townhouses on Pine Rock Ave. Noske considers herself a homebody, so when she is back in her hall, she would rather chill out in her dorm room than check out what is going on around campus.
“There’s always school work that I have to do. Events run at random times so usually I don’t prioritize them because I’m trying to balance social life and my school work first,” said Noske. “I also think that RA’s could do a better job at making them sound more exciting and less like a job they have to do.”
Noske thinks that she would be more involved in her dorm activities if her RA’s were more personable and took the time to get to know her better. She said that she would rather sit in and watch Netflix or browse the internet than go to a social in her dorm with people she does not know that well.
Regine Christie, RA in Farnham Hall, noticed an issue in attendance as well for on campus “Weekend Warrior” events.
“The most I’ve seen was 20 kids at one event. These events give students who stay on campus during the weekends something else to do, but it doesn’t incline them to actually stay here instead of go home,” said Christie.
The large percentage of commuters is what Noske and Christie think keeps weekend activity relatively low.
“If you’re friends with a group of people and they’re all commuters, when they go home on the weekend and you’re still stuck here, sometimes students don’t see the reason to stick around,” said Christie. “Sometimes it’s more convenient for them to go back to their towns to give them something to do if they live closeby.”
Christie said that she thinks it is worth it for residents to check out more weekend events. Every RA works in advance to make sure students who attend will have a good time and get to know each other better.
“I know that the shuttle on the weekends can really only take you to the Hamden Plaza or the mall, and that can get old quick,” Christie said. “So more residents should at least try to find more events that interest them because they never know what benefits might come of it.”
Photo Credit: Taylor Nicole Richards – News Writer
PHOTO: Katie Noske, sophomore psychology major
