Cristina Foglietta
Staff Writer
Before entering college, some students may have certain expectations of campus nightlife and partying all night in dorm rooms. Do these expectations meet reality? Many freshmen are aware that a lot of partying goes on, but maybe did not expect the parties to be never-ending. “Dorm life my freshman year was worse than I expected. I didn’t think that there would be parties all the time, on the weekdays and weekend,” said Cara Frank, a sophomore broadcasting major. Frank lived in Riggs Hall her freshman year, then moved to Brookville Hall after she could not take the constant noise and partying. The reality for others is different. “I always see wild, out of control college frat parties on T.V. and movies but I never experienced that (at Post),” said Matt Mason, a senior criminal justice major. Maybe the reason Mason has never seen this is because he lived in Suffolk Hall, the cam¬pus quiet dorm for four years. Many residents feel the amount of parties varies depending on what dorm building they live in at LIU Post.
If you live at LIU Post, you may have noticed that there are much fewer people on campus during the weekend. Many people who live nearby go home. There are several different reasons why. Immanelle Roma, a senior music education major, says he goes home every weekend for a better food selection and to spend time with his family. “I stayed home one weekend and I was losing my mind, I was really bored,” said Roma. He said he spent most of the weekend in his dorm room in Suffolk Hall doing homework and watching T.V. “No one I know stays on the weekend, only international and out of state students do,” said Roma.
Some feel that students are not taking advantage of the college atmosphere. “I wonder if the freshmen today are still in awe, or appreciate everything that their exposed to,” said Chris Kwozko, a graduate student studying English education.
Kwozko lived on campus for five years and was a resident assistant for three of them. He says he thinks a student’s experience living at LIU Post depends on what dorm building you are in. Kwozko has lived in Brookville Hall, Nassau Hall and Riggs Hall. “The frequency and quality of parties are now inconsistent. “When I was a freshman, we knew who to expect to throw parties,” said Kwozko.
Some residents say there weren’t many parties the first week of the semester. “The first weekend of school I didn’t see any parties in my dorm building, but during the next few weeks there will be more parties,” said Frank. She says she thinks that it was quiet in her dorm building, Brookville, because people recently moved in and are still adjusting. Frank says she didn’t expect so many people to go home the first weekend after school started. She said her roommate and friends all left campus. This seems to be a reoccurring trend at LIU Post.
Maethinee Koonvisal, a senior biology major, says she goes home to Jackson Heights, New York about every two weeks, mostly so she can cook for herself and eat anytime she wants. Winnick, the school cafeteria, is open fewer hours on the weekends than during the week. “It’s not always boring on the weekends because sometimes there are campus events but all my friends usually go home,” said Koonvisal. Ken Zhou, a senior psychology major, says he goes home if there are no campus events or activities going on. He says it is quick and easy for him to go to his house in Brooklyn.
LIU Post has several events on campus. However, not many of them are during the weekend. “I think if they had more events on campus it would keep people here on the weekends,” said Koonvisal. She says she would like to see more trips off campus and in the city as well. Mason and Zhou agree, saying that they would like to see more activities and events during the weekend.
Students occasionally get bored on other college campuses as well. Mason transferred from Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut. Mason said the college was located in a small town with hardly anything around it. People mostly hung out in their rooms and threw parties in the dorm building, he said. Zhou transferred from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. St. Lawrence has a quiet campus and is located in a small town. However, anything else is a half an hour drive away, said Zhou. It is very difficult for any college campus to be exciting twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
“LIU has a lot more activities, events and clubs on campus than my previous school,” said Mason. He says he is involved on campus by being part of the Newmen Club and went to campus events such as the Back to School BBQ on September 4th and the movie in Hillwood Cinema on September 6th. Association for Campus Programming advertises recent events on posters and fliers in Hillwood and all over campus.
Zhou feels differently. “If I had to choose between the two schools for graduate school, I would choose St. Lawrence because it has more campus events and more of a variety of food and dorm buildings,” Zhou said. He says he would like to see more activities on the weekends and a better selection of food at LIU Post.
Others see LIU Post as a highlight in their lives. “I have a sense of pride for this college, it has taken me on the journey I wanted to go on,” said Kwozko. Mason also feels grateful to be at LIU Post. He said he decided to go to LIU Post since he was familiar with the area and it was about a half an hour away from home. “Overall, I think that LIU is the better college experience (compared to Mitchell College) and I would recommend it,” said Mason.
Many students feel that some do not appreciate what is right in front of them. “I feel like students take their experience here for granted by thinking it’s boring,” said Kwozko.
Whether students decide to stay on campus or go home for the weekend, the reality is they are only in college once, so everyone should enjoy it! Students should experience as much as they can while they are here, so they can leave with happy memories, good friends and a well-earned college degree.
To find out about events happening this week on campus, check out page 2 of this week’s Pioneer. There are events listed each week and the Pioneer comes out every Wednesday.
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