As the end of the semester draws near, I’ve been reflecting on my past three and a half years here at Hofstra University. The people I’ve met and the organizations I’ve joined have made me who I am today. Cheesy, I know, but it’s true. I’ve met some of my closest friends since coming to Hofstra.
While joining clubs is one of the obvious ways to meet new people and make new friends, another way that people don’t talk about enough is living together.
When you decide to live on campus as a first-year, people suggest that you live in a suite. Along with Stuyvesant Hall, there is a specific cluster of buildings on the North side of campus for first-year students called the Netherlands Complex. There are five buildings in the Netherlands South and six buildings in the Netherlands North. Each building has two floors filled with suite- style rooms.
I’ve lived (and currently am living) in a four-person suite as I have for all four years that I’ve been here. As a first year, it was in Orange House in the Netherlands. From my sophomore year to my senior year, I have been in Newport House in Colonial Square. Since the beginning, I’ve lived with the same people, and they quickly became my best friends at Hofstra.
When I was looking to match with people on ZeeMee in the spring and summer before coming to college, there was only one person I really connected with. We were both from Massachusetts, had a younger sibling and loved music. It was great knowing who I would be sharing a room with.
I didn’t meet my two suitemates until we got our room assignments. Anyone who lives on campus knows that you get an email from Residence Life with the people you will be rooming with. That’s how our first group chat was formed, and we met for the first time on move-in day. From that day forward, we never looked back.
Welcome Week was how we all got to know each other. We attended the seminars together and had dinner as a group. In our free time, we watched silly movies and shows with each other. Right before classes were about to start, we all went on an Explore Next Door trip to the Statue of Liberty. Those memories were small, but they were the foundation of a friendship that will hopefully last a lifetime.
Over the last three and a half years, we held a plethora of movie nights and game nights. A couple of people have come and gone in our close friend group, while some have stayed to this day. Living in a suite has given me built-in friends that I probably never would have met otherwise. There are still some things that we are figuring out, like a cleaning schedule for the dorm. Other things just come naturally to us like annoying each other while procrastinating homework or asking on a whim if anyone wants to meet up after class to get dinner.
Senior year has been busy with all our different schedules. My roommate has been in Washington D.C. for the fall but is returning for the spring. My suitemates and I are excited to end our four years at Hofstra together.
If you’re reading this and are a first-year living in a suite or even a tower, I suggest you get to know your roommate and suitemates. You may realize you have more in common than you think.
