The Virginia-Snider residence hall is a four-class hall that houses honor college students. (SPENCER EGGERS/The Daily Campus)
Congratulations incoming class of 2014 and transfer students – you are about to start a brand new chapter of your life here on the Hilltop.
Take some time to visit SMU’s website — have you ever heard of RLSH (pronounced ‘relish’)? If you are living on SMU’s campus, you will. It stands for Residence Life and Student Housing. In its section of the website (smu.edu/housing), you’ll find the answers to almost all of your questions under the tab for prospective students — almost.
Assuming that students of SMU-caliber are capable of getting information from a website, this article will focus primarily on what you can’t find online.
As you probably know, SMU requires first-year students to either live on campus or at home. If you are planning on living in the dorms, this is most likely your first time living on your own — well, sort of on your own.
Have you ever shared a room with another person? A bathroom? Have you ever had to share a washer and dryer with 30 other people? With people you don’t know?
If you have problems with any of these people, you’ll need to know how to deal with them.
Associate Director of Student Life Jennifer Post says “the most important thing is to talk about [your] expectations from the very beginning and keep an open mind. Not everyone comes with the same idea about living together.”
And, she adds, “You don’t have to be best friends with your roommate. In fact, it is sometimes better if you aren’t,” she said. “That way, when you get tired of being with your roommate, you can go visit your best friend, and when you get tired of being with your best friend, you can go hang out with your roommate.”
She advises students to “talk about cleaning, borrowing, guests, etc.,” and she warns that it can be “hard to adjust living with someone” if you’ve never had to deal with it before.
When the residence halls open August 23, make sure you meet your resident assistant (RA) or, if you are living in campus apartments, your community assistant (CA), and try to find your Hall or Community Director — he or she will be the person who helps you with roommate or suitemate problems, lets you into your room when you’re locked out after hours, helps you with maintenance problems, hangs fliers up in the dorms, or anything else that you might need.
Former RA and junior Alex Ehmke says “one of the best sources of information is your RA. They know everything about housing and residence hall policies, but also know a lot about the campus and student life simply by being upperclassmen.”
As an IB Scholar, a student senator and the vice president of the debate team, Ehmke is one of the many students at SMU who found that getting involved on campus really helps you establish your social life in a new place.
“I wish someone had told me how important it is that you do not just go to school here,” he said. “While you should definitely come here to get a quality education, don’t let your commitment to the classroom drown out your other priorities. Go to football games! Join organizations! Attend floor socials! While you’re at SMU, you have the chance to meet some truly amazing people, some of whom may be your best friends for years to come.”
Ehmke also says that, while the list on the website of things to bring is helpful, there are several things that RLSH doesn’t put online.
Each person will have different needs, but he proposes to add a few items that might help you settle in.
If you forget something, or if you’re flying and don’t have the room in your suitcase for everything, there are places to go shopping in the area (Walmart, Target, Kroger, etc.), but you’ll want to be settled in before classes start August 26 — college is a bit different from high school, so you’ll actually be depending on that alarm clock to wake up in the mornings.
“Nothing will be exactly as you expect it,” Post says. “That’s OK and normal.”
For more information, visit the RLSH website or email questions to [email protected].
