Dorm life – not so quiet

Somaily Nieves / Contributing Writer

William Sturrup begins his freshman year walking into the Bay Vista Housing building at Biscayne Bay Campus. He is unsure of what he should expect living on campus, but there is one priority on his mind.

“It’s really important for me to form relationships because I’m an international student,” said Sturrup, marine biology major.

 Living in the dorms may help students bond, even in the summer.

“I started sort of being secluded to myself and then I started opening up to different possibilities and different people and it’s been a good experience,” said Luco Pierre, senior journalism major.

Although BBC only has one residence hall, this hasn’t stopped students from enjoying its appeal during the summer.

According to Nikki Kogan, Residence Life coordinator, Bay Vista Housing tends to have a smaller group of residents during the summer semester because they share the residence hall with camps and student orientations. There were less than 50 students staying at the dorms during Summer A with an additional 20 to 30 students that joined them in Summer B.

According to Kogan, during the summer, the residents tend to be a close group of students that have known each other from the past year.

“It’s a little tight group we have there,” said Natalie Andrea Williams, junior marine biology major. “Some of my really good friends now are from there.”

Since many students living on campus are away from their homes and families, friendships are very important.

“We’ve got our own little community where you know everybody’s name and where everybody is from and it’s nice,” said Breanna Woods, sophomore early childhood education major.

Bay Vista allows for these students to interact through group oriented activities coordinated in the common room of the housing building. The students gather in the common room and enjoy each other’s company as they eat or play games.

Kogan has helped organize “game night while watching the Heat game” and “chicken taste off to see what chicken products students like the best.” Students at Bay Vista take advantage of events occurring on campus as well.

According to Kogan, “during the months of June and July, [Student Programming Council] as well as Campus Life are doing more programming during the day, so the staff tries to utilize those things.”

According to Williams, the housing staff promotes studying by having study halls where students can get help with homework.

“Being on campus makes me focus more on school,” said Woods.

Williams affirms that living in the dorms gives students a chance to become involved in the University setting.

“Staying at the dorms is like a real college experience, so I would get it here and nowhere else.”