Dorm Life: Opportunity to Meet New People

The three-story building holds approximately 300 college students. Blank white walls are covered in
fliers about upcoming events and little individual mailboxes are numbered in rows.
I referred to this building as my home the other day. It has been nearly two months since I moved into the dorms and, to my surprise, not very much has changed since then.
I think I finally grasped that this is where I actually live now. At first, it was almost like staying in a bizarre hotel.
Residence Assistants, otherwise known as the RAs, play the role of peacekeepers on campus. Paula Czirr, the Resident Life Manager, is the head honcho of these people.
In a Residence Hall full with a varied and bountiful crowd of strangers who are paired up and roomed together, RAs are most definitely needed in order to avoid living in a free-for-all, topsy-turvy zoo of students.
My roommate Amanda Razzaia, from Walnut Creek, Calif., got it right when she said, “There is never a dull moment on campus. There is always something going on and people of all walks of life you can meet.”
Everyone has their own unique story, speaking of all walks of life. I have met one particularly interesting person named Tarah Baguio. She is a 34-year-old majoring in Medical Billing and Communications.
“I am originally from Hawaii. I lived in a small town called Wahiawa, located on the island of Oahu, where the capital city Honolulu resides in. I’ve also lived in Wailuku, Maui. Altogether living in Hawaii for 32 years to living in Coeur d’Alene two years, November 1st has been a big step. We’re talking about year-round warm weather; the coldest Hawaii as a whole would get is lower 50’s to cold Pacific Northwest, at first I thought what the hell am I thinking?” Baguio said.
Baguio misses Hawaii, the beaches, her family and friends, and the weather.
“No matter where my life may take me, Hawaii is home in my heart, but my journey has started for me and my future. I don’t know where my roads may lead me, but it will be worth going through this,” said Baguio.
She feels that living on campus is convenient.
“Living here on campus is cool considering I don’t have to rely on everyone else in my family to take time out of their busy schedules from work or home life to take me to school or to pick me up because I don’t drive. Since I am a full-time student who also works on campus,” said Baguio.
Baguio has made a few friends. “I have a handful of them. I’ve met people from other states other than the neighboring states and Idaho.”
Baguio dislikes the fact the hours are shorter in the SUB on the weekends and that they don’t serve dinner on the weekends either.
She also dislikes the unreliable internet.
“A lot of students here are in hybrid or online classes and the internet tends to flicker on and off.”
Baguio takes pleasure in being one of the few older residents here and having the respect from the younger students in the dorms.
“I am known as “Troubles” and pick on people in a good way, they know how I roll. I’m like the big sister to some of the residents,” said Baguio.
The more I contemplate my roommate’s comment that each of us has our own personal story, the less strange these strangers seem to become.
Now I can’t help but wonder who else I will come across, during my stay living in the Residence Hall, and what touching or intriguing stories they might hold.