As NJIT becomes a more dorm-friendly institution while remaining a primarily commuter-based school, it results in a space that looks transient but is used residentially. It doesn’t quite feel like a large state school, but it also doesn’t feel as dead on the weekends as it used to. This puts NJIT in a weird physical limbo, as our sole dining hall, Gourmet Dining Services, is only frequented by those who dorm, and the common rooms on the first floor of the Central King Building chiefly house commuters killing the lone hours between classes. To understand how different scholars experience campus life, four students from varying residential and commuting backgrounds shared their perspectives.
Leonardo Gunn Lee, a second-year Biology student from Daegu, Korea, currently residing in Laurel Hall, commented that he enjoyed the tight-knit bonds he gained from dorming in the John Martinson Honors Residence Hall his first year. “This semester, I am dorming with a lot of my close friends,” he remarked. “But last semester, my favorite memories were when a bunch of my friends used to come over to me and [his roommate’s] room, hang out till 3 a.m., talk, and eat snacks.”
Although he initially felt the campus was unbearably lonely and foreign, especially in the first few days after arriving in America, the fear subsided as he got more familiar with his fellow residents, who he describes as his “favorite thing about NJIT.” In particular, Lee finds that dorm life and the casual extrovertedness of American culture have been vital in shaping his college experience.
On the other hand, out-of-state students perceived NJIT as more of a culture shock than anything else — especially for Jonathan Morse, second-year Computer Science major: “El Paso is almost triple the population [of Newark], but like 10 times the size, so everything is suburban and sprawled. It’s a bit weird to come here and learn downtown is two minutes away.”
Morse finds Newark to be quite different from his humble beginnings in the South. Now in his second year of living in the John Martinson Honors Residence Hall, he finds that his dorm doesn’t allow him to keep all of his treasured belongings, such as his electric guitar, in close proximity, especially as he shuffles between New Jersey and Texas.
For those familiar with the Jersey landscape, opinions are slightly less of a shock. Take for example New Jersey native Grace Nigro, a second-year Civil Engineering student. Though she lives in Union, she is dorming in the John Martinson Honors Residence Hall and enjoys being active, “not being in my dorm all the time,” and going “to the Campus Center and library a lot.”
When it’s warmer outside, Nigro likes to sit out at the tables and “[play] volleyball with … friends on the grass or sand court” outside her dorm. While NJIT is quite similar to her hometown, she notes the larger areas of vegetation that come with NJIT’s commitment to biodiversity and sustainability on campus grounds. When Nigro gets the chance to talk to incoming students, she recommends they dorm — at least during their first year — to fully experience campus culture.
Most striking is the viewpoint of a commuter compared to an on-campus resident. Naomi Alves, a fourth-year Biomedical Engineering student from Newark, New Jersey, doesn’t consider NJIT her home like many of its on-campus residents do. Rather, she views NJIT as “the place I go for my classes, work, or club activities.”
There is clearly a difference in the perception of your university depending on whether you have to return to a residence building or your own home at the end of the day, similar to how a workplace’s culture affects your attitude coming into work each day. However, Alves looks forward to Halloween because “students [dress] up in these elaborate costumes” in NJIT’s vivacious community.
For some students, it’s become home without them realizing it: “I’ve called my dorm ‘home’ so many times to the point where my dormmates, my friends both here and back home, and my family, they always second-guess, [asking] ‘What do you mean, it’s your home? Your home’s El Paso.’” Morse said. “But [NJIT] is my home here.”
