By: Jessica Albright | Staff Writer
With movies like Pitch Perfect and Monsters University, the college experience oftentimes appears to be a grand and lively time for young adults. Although this may be true for some, many people find that college is quite a different experience than they expected. From dining hall food to the social life, the first month or so of freshman year has been a challenge. However, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
In a world where recipes can be found in about ten seconds on the Internet, many are used to having the option of home cooked meals every night. Unfortunately, this is not an option anymore, and students’ only resort is the dining hall. It does not take long for students to realize that Miley Dining Hall is far from the delicious home cooked meals from their childhood. It appears many agree that the food is somewhat of a letdown. Louise Debutant says, “The food is worse than my expectations… They need to improve the food.” Emma Rothrock, who has to use the MyZone area for food, says the quality of the allergy friendly food also was not expected. “The tour guide said it was better than it actually is,” Rothrock says. On the other hand, Alex Rousseau says, “Unpopular opinion: The food isn’t that bad.” So, maybe the food is an acquired taste, or the students just have not explored enough of the dining hall food yet.
Aside from the dining hall, first-year students at Salve have found other elements of the school to be lacking. Multiple students noted that the social aspects of Salve have not lived up to their expectations. Colleen Brown says, “I feel like the social aspect of it has not been what I expected in college.” Another student states, “I am surprised by the lack of things to do on the weekends.” Salve has been able to put on one-time events in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the school, but there does not seem like a lot to do on campus during the normal weekends. When talking to students about this, they agreed that there should be more activities available to keep students busy and sociable, especially on the weekends. Dan Carron was expecting more drama at Salve. Maybe he can find that in February with the help of the Stagefright performance of Urinetown. Essentially, students have agreed that college has not been entirely what they were expecting.
With these false expectations, students have offered ideas for improvements. From the food, to the facilities, and to communication, students agree that there is a fair share of elements that need fixing up. The main aspect of Salve that students agree needs changing is the food. Although the quality of the food was a much-discussed topic, many students also agreed that the dining hall should stay open for later hours, rather than just having The Nest as a late-night option, as students would like to have normal dining options as well. Students also discussed improving the communication with teachers and students, accessibility in the buildings for individuals with disabilities, the recycling at the school, housing for the LGBTQ+ community, and the faculty response time. In one case, it took three weeks for the maintenance faculty to fix a student’s moldy AC unit, which was an upsetting experience for them and their roommate. It is safe to say that Salve is not a perfect school and has room to impress the students.
Looking on the bright side, however, many things have positively surprised incoming freshmen. One student was surprised by the people at Salve, saying, “I wasn’t expecting the community to be as great as it is.” Another student says, “People have been pretty friendly in most of my classes.” Brown, a New Yorker, says she was surprised to find the people here to be very nice because they are not as neighborly as where she is from. Carron, also from New York, noted that the friendships he has formed have exceeded his expectations. It is safe to say that Rhode Island has definitely been a welcoming place for incoming students. Freshmen also noted that their roommate situations have gone great for the most part, and most students have found it easier than expected to make friends.
So far, the freshmen have not been discouraged from college life and are actually looking forward to the rest of the year at Salve Regina University. Many students are looking forward to joining clubs, fun events on campus, the holiday food and festivities, and overall, just discovering more of what Salve has to offer. Rousseau even said she was looking forward to “Coffee, coffee, coffee!” Spoken like a true college kid for sure.
Overall, many freshmen have enjoyed their first month at Salve, despite the few unexpected bumps in the road, and are looking forward to continuing their time at the school.
