I know that I sort of “complained” about having to move to Hart for the break prior to having to do it, but I just want to take the time, now that that’s behind me, to talk about what that experience was like for me; it would be nice if this editorial reached someone who has the ability to reform college policy in regards to this matter because I would really hate someone else in the future having to go through what I did, and I know that based on how many students that I observed on campus (which was very few), there aren’t generally very many.
Because I don’t own a car, I had to stay on campus for the length of the break; I love SUNY Oswego, so normally, that wouldn’t bother me; in fact, normally, I would take staying here over going back to Rome every time, but I wasn’t looking forward to having move the materials that I was going to need for the duration of the break over to Hart, since I’d be having to walk it over, and I wasn’t looking forward to having to stay cooped up here alone, since essentially nothing here was open, and no one that I know was staying here, too; my boyfriend Ray says that he asked the Residence Life & Housing office if he could stay here with me and that he was told no because staying here is reserved only for students that absolutely need to. However, first of all, there was another bed in my room (which could have instead been a desk, which I didn’t have), and second of all, I met another student that was staying here because his car had broken down, which doesn’t sound like an “absolutely have to” to me, as he probably could have caught a ride with someone or taken a bus or a train, and I know that that’s inconvenient, but really, “absolutely have to” is what it is.
I did “absolutely have to” stay here. I was doing my student-teaching in Fulton, and my parents live in Rome, so I couldn’t commute from Rome to Fulton without a car, yet I was placed in a very small, stuffy room that didn’t even have a desk (it normally functions as a study lounge), whereas he had an actual room, and I know that he doesn’t normally live in Hart (that would obviously be another story). Penfield was only open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but since I was having to take a bus to Fulton, I was getting up before 5 a.m. and not getting back until 5 p.m., which means that I was gone during the entire time that Penfield was open. There was, additionally, no gym open, not even a dining hall, so I had to prepare my own food, which meant having to prepare my own food, which meant even more material that needed to be walked over to Hart (it took me three trips to move everything, and it was extremely cold and windy).
What’s the botttom line of all of my complaining? Well, when I was telling a professor here on campus about this, he agreed that students having to move out of the residence halls in which they already live is relatively ridiculous. He said, humorously enough, that the college should be trying to make students happy so that they will be happy alumni and eventually happy donors, and I agree with him; it’s no fun having to needlessly acquaint yourself with a new setting for a mere nine days when there’s no reason that I couldn’t have stayed in Sheldon; I still would have been alone, but (a) I would have been closer to stores such as Fastrack and Kinney’s, (b) I would have been closer to the bus stop at which I caught my bus to Fulton, and (c) most importantly, I would have had the familiarity of where I usually live. Having to take three trips walking belongings over to Hart was a waste of time, especially since Sheldon is also an academic building, which means that for most of the break, it was open, anyway. Prior to break, one potential reason that I offered for having to move was that Sheldon wouldn’t have any DAs or RAs working, but there weren’t any at Hart, either, so that’s no excuse. My hope is that this policy will be reformed; students need to be kept comfortable, and their time certainly doesn’t need to be needlessly wasted.