[nabs-l] Campus Housing and social concerns.

Thu Jan 9 21:06:49 UTC 2014

Good luck; I like your approach so far.  

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 3:16 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Campus Housing and social concerns.

Hi,

I'm still looking into the random match thing.  I know that housing reserves
the right to put students where there is an empty bed, but I'm not sure of
the process to make them aware of that.

We use this thing called a "Housing Lottery."  Groups form in late January
and early February, then every group is assigned a lottery number which
determines when the group can pick the place they want to live in on this
online platform.  I know there is a period where groups who don't find a
suitable arrangement can regroup and add members, but I'm really just unsure
of how all this works.  I have asked if anyone from my class could tell me
about it on the same posts I've used to mention that I am roommate-less.
I'm really behind the 8-ball since my group chose a housing option which was
special interest housing last year, so we didn't have to do the lottery when
everyone else figured out how to do it as freshmen.

I have emailed someone from housing to see if I could meet with someone to
go over my options, and to see if they can explain some of the processes to
me so I know what will be going on.  I really only want to go through
disability services if I absolutely have to, and did see some things about
their process.  Basically, I would be in a dorm room and most likely by
myself.  This is really not an ideal situation as the majority of my classes
are in a building that is on the opposite side of campus from the dorms.  I
was also hoping to remain in an apartment or something with a kitchen so
that I could continue to work on my cooking skills, and be a little closer
to that side of campus.

I'm also looking into independently owned apartments off-campus.  The thing
that worries me is that the area surrounding campus isn't great, and I don't
want to go too far away because I would have to walk there by myself.  Since
I'm in a campus apartment now I can use a student escort service, but if I
get an apartment outside the limits of campus I will not be able to use that
to get home in the dark.  There is a single apartment a friend of mine lived
in last semester, but it's right by a bar/nightclub that is kind of shadey,
and I don't know hat that would be the best idea for me either.  However,
that particular apartment is still within the escort service's limits, so it
is better than going off campus.

On 1/9/14, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I like the transfer idea.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Arielle 
> Silverman
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 2:23 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Campus Housing and social concerns.
>
> Does the university sponsor any apartments where students can be 
> randomly matched with roommates? It seems like they should have 
> something for older students who transfer in and don't know anyone, or 
> those who don't have a "group" of on-campus friends for whatever 
> reason. I lived in such an apartment with two different roommates with 
> whom I was randomly matched and both of them worked out well.
> Or could you try just renting a one-bedroom apartment off campus by 
> yourself?
> Arielle
>
> On 1/9/14, Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Justin,
>>
>> The bulletin board thing may work.  I have put several posts out on 
>> Facebook, including on in my class group.  I have also messaged 
>> another girl who said she was looking for potential roommates for 
>> next year, but she has not responded in the few days since I got back 
>> to her.
>>
>> On 1/9/14, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Maybe try a bulletin board or facebook announcement.  Something that 
>>> will reach a lot of people.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti 
>>> Shelton
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 12:14 PM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Campus Housing and social concerns.
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Please let me know if you have any suggestions on this.
>>>
>>> I go to a fairly small university, where 90% of the students live on 
>>> campus.
>>> Figuring out housing for the next year can be very complex, as the 
>>> university pushes students to have groups put together.  The groups 
>>> are especially important for upperclassmen to have, since a lot of 
>>> their housing is apartments and houses around campus.
>>>
>>> Two friends and I formed a group of 3 in freshman year, and at the 
>>> time we thought we would stay together.  We got an apartment this 
>>> year and things were going really well.  Just over break one of the 
>>> girls decided that she was going to transfer to a school closer to 
>>> home for personal reasons, and the other has said for a while that 
>>> since she lives fairly close she is planning on commuting for junior 
>>> year.
>>> Therefore, the plan of my friend who transfered and I getting an 
>>> apartment together has fallen through.  I have also applied to live 
>>> in my fraternity house, but unfortunately I was not accepted.
>>>
>>> One of the things I've noticed about my school is that the students 
>>> can be pretty cliquey.  My two friends and I sort of had our own 
>>> little group because we didn't fall in to any of the larger ones 
>>> early on in freshman year.  I now see two problems forming for 
>>> junior year; I am friendly with a lot of people, but wasn't 
>>> particularly close to anyone other than my two friends on campus.  
>>> I'm pretty extroverted though, and love being around other people.  
>>> It was so easy to socialize as a freshman because even though I was 
>>> a little shy in the beginning other people would go out of their way 
>>> to be friendly and welcoming.  It seems kind of awkward now that I'm 
>>> halfway through sophomore year.  A lot of those I am not close to do 
>>> not really know me that well, but I'm worried that since a year and 
>>> a half has gone by with us just being acquaintances that it might be 
>>> difficult for them to really get to know me.  The second issue is of 
>>> course that I will not have someone to be in a group with me for 
>>> housing.
>>>
>>> I have looked at the housing web site.  Juniors and seniors cannot 
>>> live in the dorms because they're reserved for freshman and 
>>> sophomore students.
>>> I
>>> would use a dorm as a fall back plan, but that isn't going to work.
>>> A lot of the apartment suites are either quads or tripples, so I 
>>> would need at least 2 more people to get into one of those.  There 
>>> is almost nothing available for two people, and there appear to be 
>>> no options available for just one in case I would need to just look 
>>> for myself.
>>>
>>> I've come up with a few obvious ways to try to fix this; A lot of 
>>> the problem that I'm sure other music majors can attest to is that I 
>>> spend a lot of time around the same very small group of people.
>>> There are about 100 students in the department, and these are the 
>>> people I am always around.
>>> They have already grouped up, and that was also how I met my two 
>>> friends that I lived with last semester.  I will be taking some more 
>>> gen ed courses this semester which could help with getting out of 
>>> the familiar social circles, but since I'm going to be going to 
>>> class I'm not sure how much time there will really be for socializing.
>>>  I have looked up some clubs which might be good to join, and a lot 
>>> of them sound like things I will really enjoy.  However, I usually 
>>> take a large number of credits, and have a lot on my plate for next 
>>> semester again.  I really do feel like joining a new club would be a 
>>> good way for me to branch out and meet new people, but I am not sure 
>>> if I will have the extra time to devote to it.  The added component 
>>> is that a lot of the clubs that caught my interest were social 
>>> justice groups like Best Buddies and Big Brothers Big Sisters, so if 
>>> I joined one of these groups and had to back out I would also be 
>>> letting down someone else.
>>>
>>> I know that if all else fails the disability office can help secure 
>>> housing, but I'm hoping to get a group together and not have to go 
>>> through them.
>>> Of
>>> course, if it comes down to just needing a place to sleep, I will do it.
>>>
>>> Has anyone ever been in a similar situation where either you had 
>>> housing concerns or felt like you really needed to branch out?  What 
>>> were some things which worked for you?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Kaiti
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Kaiti
>>
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--
Kaiti

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