College is a time to explore, gain knowledge, get in trouble, but not too much, and prepare yourselves for the real world. In the past the Residence Halls prepared students for crummy cheap living, but not anymore. The boring and crappy ole’ residence halls are mere myths here at Texas A&M University-Kingsville – at least that’s what new and veteran residents say.
Today, TAMUK offers its students six residence halls, Turner-Bishop built in 1972, Martin, Lynch and Lucio, and Mesquite Village West, which opened in 2011. Each has their own price ranges. Turner-Bishop and Martin halls are the most affordable dorm rooms at $2,096, Lynch is $2,311, Lucio and Mesquite’s four-bedroom suite is $3,394, and the two-bedroom suites are $3,604. These per-semester prices include only the cost of the rooms.
Many students who have never lived in the dorms speculate that Turner-Bishop is awful and shoddy because of the economical price, and that the residents hate their dorm lives, but these beliefs aren’t necessarily true.
“I really like my dorm. I’ve actually lived off campus before at the stations [Javelina Stations] and when I was there, it has its own things like you get your own kitchen, but I really missed the whole community feel. Like sometimes I would go outside my room and I wouldn’t know any of my neighbors, and when you’re at the dorm all your friends are pretty much there,” said Pedro Gonzalez, resident advisor of Turner and a Biomedical Sciences major.
And Resident Advisors are not the only students who have proven that the rumors about the terrible and unlivable dorm halls are just rumors.
“I went to Javelina Camp, so I moved into the dorms before everyone came back to school. And yes Turner-Bishop is one of the cheapest dorm rooms, but I like it. I have gotten to know my roomate better, and the dinning hall downstairs is really convenient, and it’s never too crowded like the one by Lucio,” said Samantha Bower, a current Bishop resident and music major.
Many of the Resident Advisors believe that in order to get the real college experience you have to live on campus at least one semester in order to really understand the atmosphere, and create meaningful relationships with other students. Each year the resident advisors decorate their hallways, set up events, have social nights, and try to help everyone create connections.
“We love to get the residents involved, and I believe it helps them become more social with each other, it’s also a great way for them to make friends. Most of the time a lot of our residents come in not really knowing anyone and once we get them involved and interacting with each other they leave here with life-long friendships and it’s great to see that,” said Lari Botello, resident advisor of Lucio Hall, and a Communications Sciences and Disorders major.
Freshmen students are required to live on campus their first semester unless they can show with clear and convincing evidence that they have a stable residence area nearby and will be able to commute to class. But underclassmen, especially the freshmen, are still encouraged to reside in the dorms.
The freshman population has also grown 15 percent from last year to the current academic year, and the fresh faces have led to an increase in the residence halls. This has excited the resident advisors, and housing department.
“I think it’s really important, especially the first year, to live on campus. It’s very vital to get out of your shell and live outside of where you have lived all your life. I think it’s important to just go out there and meet people. And they learn a lot about themselves,” said Samuel Munoz, resident advisor of Mesquite Village West and a Range and Wildlife Management major.
