 Hey everyone, it's Claire, coming to you live from the University of Vermont. I'm standing in front of University Heights North, one of our residential halls on campus. And that's what today's topic is, residential life. So here at UVM, to choose where you're going to live, you choose a living and learning community. Some of those communities include sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship, arts and creativity, outdoor experience, et cetera, et cetera. In these communities, you live with people that have a similar interest to you. So everybody has different majors, they still have different hobbies, but you do share that one common interest with other people living near you. So today, I'll be taking you inside of the Honors College, Rated Hall, that's where I live, and I'll show you around a little bit. I'll show you some features that every residential hall has, and then I'll get to show you my room. This is super important topic because your room is what's going to be your home when you go to college. I lived in one room for basically my whole life, so it was definitely an adjustment. So I'll talk a little bit about how that adjustment worked as well. Super excited to show you around, and we'll talk a little bit more about other communities as we go along. All right, let's head in. So coming inside, we have our main common area. Note the piano over there. We also have different music spaces for students to practice in private. Normally there are more couches here, but due to the COVID situation, everything is spaced out. So here we are in the University Heights North kitchen, located on the ground floor, and everybody has access to it 24-7. Along with that, there are microwaves and sinks on each floor in the common rooms. So that's great if you just have a little tea that you want to microwave up, make it warm again, you can just go down the hall to that. Or if you want to have a big pasta dinner, maybe a bake-off with your friends, you can come down here and use the large space for that. One of the great things about this kitchen particularly is that the dean of the Honors College actually uses it. So every once in a while, maybe it's during a midterms week, or when a lot of the Honors College students have a paper deal, he'll email us at night and say, hey, y'all, I'm in the U Heights kitchen, and I just made my mom's favorite mac and cheese recipe. Or I made so many apples from apple picking this weekend, I made apple crisp. Come on down and get some. So not only are you eating incredible food, homemade, you're also getting to talk to the dean on that personal level. I really like that because I got to know somebody who I didn't think was supposed to talk to students themselves, so it was really cool. And also, he doesn't lie, his mom's mac and cheese recipe is indeed famous. So here's a video of the kitchen in room without my face in the way. Just show you, it does have oven, stove, fridge, microwave. We even have some shared plates, pots, pans, etc. for us to all share. Got a nice long island, and then this also doubles as an extra common room. So we've got the couches and TV, tables, we have foosball, pool, air hockey. We even have cornhole indoors, and then of course the vending machines. So every residential hall has a front desk that's staffed, and they're here to answer any of your questions and specifically help out with packages, cleaning supplies for when your mom calls 30 minutes away, saying surprise visit, rent out games, etc. While the buildings are open during the day to UVM students, each residential area is locked 24-7. And you have to scan your cat card, our form of identification, in order to get in. Before we head upstairs, I want to just quickly show the laundry room. It's very noisy and warm in there, so I'm going to stay inside to talk about that. But just know that every residential hall has plenty of laundry machines, and laundry is free here. That's right, it's free, which is amazing. Alright, let's head on, let's keep going upstairs. We have made up one plate of stairs onto the University Heights North green room, kind of like a second-story courtyard connecting the two sides of the building. Students come out here to hang out, there's some back there putting spike ball right now, and in light of the COVID situation, professors are actually teaching some classes out here, since you can remain more socially distant, and of course the outdoor air. It's a great resource, but we've got so much more to see, so come on, follow me. As we walk through the hallway, down the hall, through the common rooms and such, we'll talk a little bit about roommates. So at UVM, you can either pick your roommate, maybe off Facebook or social media, or you can do a little match.com survey, which the university provides, where you put down what you like to do in your room, and what time you wake up, go to bed, etc. So both options usually work out just fine. As for getting along with your roommate, it might seem a little tricky at first, but there are different ways that you can manage that. So for example, telling each other your schedule, so that you know when to expect each other, and when to have your time alone. So now you're probably wondering what we're looking at now, and it's just a common room on our floor. You just saw another one. They're a little bit less furnished due to COVID, but each floor has at least two of these common rooms. They all have the microwave, the sink, but enough about that. Let's get headed out and let's go see the actual room itself. Now that we're inside the room, I'll show you around a little bit. I live in a private double in U-heights, so that means that my roommate and I share a bathroom just for ourselves. Not all rooms are like this, but I will talk about what each room does include no matter where you live. So coming in, the door is there. We have our closets. Each person does get their own closet. Some rooms have them built in, ours are moveable. And then coming over here, we have our sink area, hello again. And each room comes with a recycling bin, wipes due to the COVID situation, a compost bag, et cetera. Coming into the living area, we have our fridge and microwave and lots of apples from Apple picking the other weekend. Each roommate gets their own desk and of course a bed. That is actually the green roof out there that we were just on earlier. One of the really cool things about our room is that you can see the mountains from the window. Now, coming over to my side of the room, here we are. Got lots of underbed storage. It's important for me because I have way too many clothes. And here's my desk. And of course, we also get a set of drawers for underneath the desk. And then coming over, I chose to bring my own printer. However, we do have printed in the library and some different college buildings, et cetera. There's smoothie maker, tea kettle, things I highly recommend bringing to college. And then as I said, with the private bathroom, we'll go inside quickly. And there we go. We've got the toilet there and our shower. All right, so that's what a private double in University Heights looks like. Now let's go talk about what it's like to live on campus, how it is adjusting to a roommate, and what other amenities the different learning communities offer. All right, let's go. So now that you've seen a little bit about what a residential hall and room looks like here at UVM, let's talk about what it's like to live on campus. As I mentioned before, UVM has different learning communities, so that you already have something in common with the people you live with. Within each community, one of your classes as a first year will actually be based around that community. And a great way of getting to know the people in my building that all share that similar interest. Here in the Honors College, our classes actually take place in this building or outside on the green roof. And there are different offices of some of our advisors are on the first floor. So it's really convenient to have all of that in one place. And also, we're all taking similar classes, especially the first semester when you all take the same class. So it's nice to have those people around you and being able to share the study times together. Finally, I want to talk about how you make the room feel like home. So I've lived in the same place since I was in kindergarten. And I think it felt like home to me just because I've been there for so long. When you come to college, it's a new place. When you walk in, like any new place, it's unfamiliar. And you're trying to figure out how you can feel more at home. And if you're like me, you're at home sick easily, so it's really important to have different things to make you feel comfortable with where you're living. So as you saw when I showed you around the room, I have different decorations that mean something to me. My favorite color is purple, and I find it very soothing. So you saw a lot of purple around the room. I also have a lot of photos of family and friends. Because, again, that reminds me of home and the parts that really matter to me at home. I think decorating with things that make you calm, people you love, things you love is really important. When you come home after maybe a stressful day, it's really important to be surrounded by things that you love. One other thing that I have in my room is my bear. I keep him on my bed. And I had in my first year and was a little bit worried that having a big stuffed animal would kind of scare away any friends. But I, my friends all visited my room last year and were still friends with me. So I don't think it made a difference. So that's just one of the things I brought to college with me. That reminds me of home and definitely makes my room more homey and comfortable for me. So that about sums up residential life here at UVN. While each room and each residential hall is a little bit different, they all have those necessities that you need, closets, dressers, desks, etc. And you can make them all feel like home by bringing things in that means something to you. I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you next year in the halls on campus.