Grealing Altheimer: Proud Greek!

Grealing Altheimer is a freshman at CU. He lives in Farrand Hall, and has enjoyed his first year on campus. Although he has had a positive experience living in the dorms, he is going to be living in off-campus housing next year with a few friends.

E=Elizabeth (Interviewer)

G=Grealing Altheimer

DORM

E: What dorm do you live in?

G: "Farrand."

ENJOYMENT

E: Do you like the dorm you live in?

G: "Yes because it's central to campus, everything is easy to get to, and I like the people that live here and work here."

SWITCHING IT UP

E: If you could have lived in a different dorm, which one would you pick and why?

G: "I wouldn't pick to live in a different dorm."

FOOD

E: Which dorm has the best food and why?

G: "Sewall because the chefs put the energy into making it delicious."

ROOMMATE

E: Did you pick your roommate? Would you recommend picking your roommate or being assigned a roommate?

G: "No I did not pick my roommate. Being assigned a roommate is better because it forces you to break out of your shell, and if you live with someone you're already friends with, there's a chance that things won't turn out well."

ADJUSTING

E: What was the hardest adjustment into dorm living?

G: "Adjusting to not being able to do homework in my room because of distractions."

PERKS

E: What is the best thing about dorm living?

G: "Living with your friends."

THE BAD TIMES

E: What is the hardest thing about living with a roommate?

G: "I haven't had any problems living with my roommate."

THE GOOD TIMES

E: In your opinion, what are some of the best activities offered on campus?

G: "Some of the best activities are: doing intramural [sports teams] for dorms, going to the rec center with friends, and becoming an active member of the Greek community."

ADVICE

E: In your opinion, what is something that every incoming freshman should know before heading to college?

G: "Procrastination is bad. As a freshman, I feel that the worst thing you can do to yourself is procrastinate because, once you start it's a hard habit to break, and once your GPA drops, getting it back up is a struggle."

I chose to interview Grealing because he is my neighbor in Farrand Hall. I wanted to get his opinion specifically, because I wanted a male perspective on the CU campus. He offered helpful insight to all of the questions, and was very easy to interview. Again, next time I would coordinate questions with the other group members in order to produce more cohesive interviews.

ELIZABETH VITALE

Stephanie Altemus: CU Savvy

Stephanie Altemus is a freshman student who lives in College Inn. Next year she is going to live in Bear Creek Apartments. Even though she has had a positive experience this year, she would not recommend living in the dorms for a second year.

E=Elizabeth (Interviewer)

S=Stephanie Altemus

DORM

E: What dorm do you live in?

S: "College Inn."

ENJOYMENT

E: Do you like the dorm you live in?

S: "Each room has its own bathroom, so that is very nice."

SWITCHING IT UP

E: If you could have lived in a different dorm, which one would you pick and why?

S: "Sewall because it has the best food."

FOOD

E: Which dorm has the best food and why?

S: "Sewall because it has a bigger variety of food [compared to the other dining halls]."

ROOMMATE

E: Did you pick your roommate? Would you recommend picking your roommate or being assigned a roommate?

S: "No, I did not pick my roommate. If you have a friend that you get along really well with, I would recommend rooming with them."

ADJUSTING

E: What was the hardest adjustment into dorm living?

S: "Learning how to live with a roommate."

PERKS

E: What is the best thing about dorm living?

S: "It is a close walk to all of my classes, and it's really easy to meet up with people on campus."

THE BAD TIMES

E: What is the hardest thing about living with a roommate?

S: "Knowing how to communicate with your roommate about things that are hard to talk about."

THE GOOD TIMES

E: In your opinion, what are some of the best activities offered on campus?

S: "Student groups and clubs because there is something for everyone. If you have an interest that doesn't have a preexisting club, you have the ability to create one."

ADVICE

E: In your opinion, what is something that every incoming freshman should know before heading to college?

S: "Make an effort to either form or go to study groups with people in your class, and take advantage of teacher's office hours."

This is a picture of College Inn, where Stephanie is currently residing.

I chose to interview Stephanie because she is one of my closest friends, and I have known her for years! I knew that she was living (nearly) off campus in College Inn, so I thought her perspective on dorm living would be interesting, and different from other student's experiences. The interview went smoothly, and she definitely had strong perspectives on the topic. In the future I would have organized interview questions to coordinate with the group.

ELIZABETH VITALE

Molly Malino: Dorms=Freedom, House=Responsibilities

Molly Malino is a sophomore at the University of Colorado. She lives off campus and loves her new housing situation her second year at CU, but misses the dorm life she experienced last year. She’s going to continue living off campus, but has her reasons for suggesting staying on campus as long as you can.

House v.s. Dorms:

How would you compare your living experience from last year to this year? Better or worse?

"I would say that last year was probably better for the fact that it’s more, like, community, so it’s a lot more fun to be able to run down the halls and have people there, and you don’t have to buy food. There’s no bills, no money needs to be spent if you don’t want it to – that’s better."

Would you rather be in the dorms or a house?

"Well, I don’t know. I like having my own room, which is definitely a bonus of being in the house, but in the dorms, its like, a little more social, so I get a lot more work done here – So I don’t know."

If you had to list an advantage and disadvantage for each, what would be your top points?

"The advantage of the dorm is the 'freeness' of it – the fact that you have all your friends around. But then the advantages of the house is that you get to have your own room and you get to kind of have your own time and you get a lot more homework done. Disadvantages of the dorms: you never get any work done, but another advantage – it’s a lot easier to get to class. And then a disadvantage about the house is that it’s really hard to get to class, and you don’t see people as much."

Freshmen Advice:

What advice would you give to freshmen considering staying in the dorms another year versus looking for a house?

"If you took advantage of the dorms your first year, I would definitely say do it again because its kind of more fun, and its, like, the one time you can get away with living on your dad’s buck, and like, run around acting like a little college kid, but at the same time, like, a house is nice to grow up a little bit, so it kind of just depends on what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for responsibilities and mature ness, probably get a house, but if you’re looking to like, have fun and like, be a little immature freshman then it’s good to stay in the dorms."

Roommates:

What is your opinion on living with a roommate you know versus someone you don’t? Advantages/disadvantages?

"The disadvantages of going to the dorms the first time is that you don’t know who you’re getting roomed with, so, it could really be, like, really bad because if you don’t get along with you’re roommate then that’s a year of… not fun. And you’re stuck in a room with them, so if you don’t get along then that really is a bummer. But the problem with choosing your friends to live with is that, you can be friends with someone, but you don’t know what they’re like when you live with them, so they’re usually completely different. It’s a big problem. You can, like, love how they are when you hang out with them, but when you actually start living with someone, it completely changes the friendship. So, I think its probably better, freshman year, to live with someone you don’t know then to pick a friend, but then sophomore year, I wouldn’t pick your best friend, but I would definitely pick people that you know have similar habits to you. It’s one thing to have your best friend, and you’ll always have your best friend, but it’s another thing to have to see that person every single day and have to share a bathroom with them."

An example of off-campus living.

Interview:

• The methods for my interview included recording each of my two interviews and later transcribing them word for word in order to get direct quotes.
• Molly was my roommate in the dorms, as well as my current roommate in our house.
• The interview went very well and Molly had a very strong opinion on how the dorms were better than living in a house for social reasons. However, as far as keeping up with academics, she agrees houses are better for studying.
• What I have learned from this is experience is that next time, I should ask different follow-up questions in order to gain more of an insight.

By: Sabra Potter