Living on Campus as an Upperclassman

The thrill of living oncampus does die out after freshman year at Fordham. Upperclassman on-campus housing at Fordham allows for exciting new experiences and foreshadows the independence of impending adulthood.  Check out my view from the 12th floor of Walsh Hall!

As an incoming freshman, living on campus at Fordham means meeting new people in your hall, attending Res life sponsored activities, hanging out on Martyrs’ lawn, and all the excitements the coming with living on a college campus for the first time. As sophomore year approaches, these excitements tend to come to a simmer as the faces in your hall become more familiar and meeting up on Eddies is a part of your daily routine.

The housing options offered to upperclassman at Fordham promise to renew those freshman year feelings even for students who have been here for a few years. 

Finlay, O’Hare and Tierney Hall present their own diverse experiences that sophomore students tend to gravitate towards. Students who choose Finlay enjoy rooms complete with their own bathroom and not to mention a spiral staircase leading up to a private loft. O’Hare and Tierney appeal to many students because of the integrated learning communities these halls offer. All three halls still embrace a strong sense of community beneficial for second year students who may not know as many of their neighbors as they think.

 

A newly renovated kitchen in Walsh Hall

Campbell, Salice / Conley and Walsh (where I currently live as a junior) halls give upperclassman their own apartment style dorms while still having the convenience of living on campus. While Walsh Hall is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors alike, Campbell and Salice / Conley Hall are strictly junior and senior housing.

Top Ten Differences from being a Freshman to being an Upperclassman

 1.  You are able to choose you schedule

Coming in to Fordham as a freshman your schedule is handed to you. However, after that, you are able to choose your own schedule. This is a great way to take classes that interest you and plan a schedule that fits your daily routine. If you are a morning person, like me, you can choose to sign up for all of the 8:30s!

2. You take classes at the Lincoln Center Campus

Whether its because a course is only offered down at Lincoln Center or because you just want to get into the city for classes and have an excuse to venture into the city, as an upperclassmen you may find yourself taking classes down at Lincoln Center. I am currently taking a graduate Geometry course at Lincoln Center on Wednesday nights and it’s a great change of pace and its, surprisingly, great being able to get into the city at least once a week.

3. Your dorm style changes, if you are living on campus.

For those who choose to live on campus, as a freshman you will live in a single room dorm in either a double or a triple. The bathroom, at least in most of the residence halls, will be communal. Not to worry, this is how you will, surprisingly enough, meet most of your friends freshman year! As a sophomore you will once again live in a double or triple with an added bonus of the bathroom being in your room. Finally, as a junior or senior you will have the opportunity to live in an apartment style dorm which includes a living area, a kitchen, bathroom and single or double rooms.

4. The number of classes that you are required to take decreases

Once you become a junior, you are only required to take four classes whereas underclassmen are required to take five. The reasoning behind this is that students, in their junior and senior years should be getting internships and volunteer opportunities to prepare them for life after Fordham. Since  I want to be  a teacher, I currently volunteer by tutoring girls at the Rosedale Center in the Bronx.

5. You begin to take more classes for your major

In my personal experience, as I advanced through Fordham I slowly began to take more classes per semester that applied to my major than to the standard core. I am a math major and last semester all four of my classes were math classes!

6. You take on leadership roles within clubs and organizations

The clubs and organizations that you choose to join freshman year will play a big role in shaping your Fordham experience. For this reason, while you may just be a general member during your freshman and even sophomore years, as you become a junior or senior you may take on E-board (Executive Board) positions and hold more responsibility. I am not the Club Liiason of the Polish Club which I have been involved with since my freshman year.

7. You realize that office hours are the best resource around, and they are actually very helpful

As an underclassman I always hesitated to go to my professors office hours. However, after being here for three years,  I now go to at least one office hour, practically every day.

8. You become more focused on the future

As graduation approaches, you begin to think more about your plans for the future. I am currently working on graduate school applications to get my masters in Secondary Education.

My friends and I as underclassmen. 

9. You know your way around Arthur Avenue, the Bronx, and NYC more.

Once you become an upperclassmen you begin to know the best pizza place, the best restaurant on Arthur Avenue, the cheapest place to get groceries and the best places to hangout with friends. Additionally, all of your trips into the city as a freshman make you a master at the subways and cool things to do in the city.

10. You know the ropes

As a freshman everything is new and exciting. You are exploring where your classes are, what your professors are like, who you will be friends with, what clubs and activities you will become involved in and what you will do on the weekends. As an upperclassman you have been able to get settled in and can now enjoy all that Fordham has to offer, and believe me, from experience, it has a lot to offer!

Still great friends as upperclassmen! 

With all of this said, not everything changes as you move from being an underclassman to an upperclassman. For me, while all of these changes were taking place the one thing that did not change was my group of friends. I am glad that I have been able to share all of my experiences with them! 

Freshman Dorm Profile: Queen's Court Edition

Queen's Court is the best place to live as a freshman.

Few will tell you this, especially if they never lived there. They might tell you about the "Queen's stereotype" -- that Queen's kids are studious and straight-edge homebodies -- but even they do so with a glint in their eye. They know that's not the whole story. It's not even a quarter of the story.

Queen's Court is the wellness housing for freshmen who apply and promise to maintain drug- and alcohol-free lifestyles. You can see why stereotypes might develop from this. But the people I found at Queen's were among the nicest, most diverse kids I met at Fordham. During my freshman year, at least, Queen's Court housed musicians, taekwondo-ers, poetry slammers, baseball buffs, stand-up comics, and artists of all kinds. 

Best of all, we got to learn these things about each other through Knight Court. This program assigns each person a time slot during the year in which they will give a 5 to 10 minute presentation on literally anything they want to share about themselves, or anything they find interesting. We were only asked to attend twice a week (there were two presentations a night from Monday through Thursday), but some students actually attended more often. 

I chose a double in Queen's as my first choice on the housing application. Sure, I was attracted by the amenities -- the possibility of a private bathroom, extra-large room, or walk-in closet thrilled me, and no other residence hall has a study lounge as beautiful or as Hogwarts-like as Bishop's Lounge -- but I also thought I'd find like people at Queen's Court. And I did. I befriended many of the girls on my floor (shout-out to John's 3rd!), and we still hang out now that we all live in O'Hare.

One of the best parts of Queen's for me, though, was my room. As someone who tried to find photos of Fordham dorms online before freshman year started, I know that they're scarce. I hope you find these photos helpful! You can click each one for a larger view.

There weren't any outlets in this little nook by the front door, so I turned it into a vanity/coatroom space.

Christmas lights = cheap, pretty, and great for mood lighting!

A bit blurry, but it's the only photo I took that encompassed my roommate's side of the room! Our room had tons of natural light.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of our walk-in closet--only a photo of the closet door. The closet was incredibly spacious. We had more room than we knew what to do with!

We had a great view of the Queen's Court courtyard--and also a perfect spot for spying on the many weddings that occurred at the University Church right next door!

When the Kids Go Away to School

Move-in day for college freshmen is never void of emotion. As NPR's Richard Gonzales drops his son off at Fordham from Oakland, CA, he discovers that Fordham's community does it's best to make the day a comfortable transition. Afterall, it wasn't long ago that upperclassmen were working through the transition themselves.

Check out the story, NPR's "When the Kid's Go Away to School," from All Things Considered.

(Listen closely for the Rose Hill Society tour guide program's own Rosanne Petagine comment on her experience as an orientation volunteer.)

Welcome Freshmen!

International Students: Faces of Fordham: Fordham Welcomes the Rose Hill Class of 2014!: "Today, at Fordham's Rose Hill campus, just over 190 orientation leaders and captains greeted the incoming freshman class. From the blaring..."