Matt Cook also asks which of the two is better? In my Freshman year I started out in a double with one roommate (as the term double implies). Anyway, at the end of my first semester I moved into a triple which ended up turning into a double because one of the roommates was asked to move out by the administration (long story). At the time I lived in the International House (215 South Prospect) which had a great deal of space and I would highly recommend to any incoming students.

Which did I prefer though? I really liked the idea of sharing space with only one person, I felt that the room upkeep was easier, and actually having a roommate forced me to be neat because I didn't want to get my things..i.e dirty laundry getting mixed up with his. So the difference, had I been in a quad, would have been that I'd have to watch my stuff from getting mixed up with 3 other people. In a double you would have to worry about divvying up less of the room than you might in a quad. In Pearl, that one quad I was talking about that had a bathroom actually had 3 separate rooms because it used to be an apartment, so there's a good amount of space in there for the roommates to spread out.

If you have applied for Early Decision and get first pick, applying for a double might not be a bad idea, but if you don't get what you want, don't be devastated. You never know who you're going to be with and what you will experience. But I'd apply for a double over a quad any day.

One thing that I suggest to everyone on tour is that when you get the contact info for your roommate, contact them and coordinate what to bring up to school. Otherwise you might get crowded if you bring too much stuff up. Bring only what you can live with for your first semester, after that bring a little more up when you have an idea of what kind of space your dealing with since all the rooms are different and you only saw 1 or 2 rooms on tour....hardly a good sampling when it comes to our halls and rooms, but we don't have that kind of time when it comes to tours.

Good luck with housing!

Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey all! Here's a comment from one of my readers, Matthew Cook, and perhaps you have similar questions that he does. Here's Matt's Comment, followed by my response. It's kind of lengthy, so make sure you have the time to read.

Cheers!
MSK

I was wondering, which of the residence halls was the most convenient, from your experience? Convenient in terms of being close to the café (food in general), and being close to my classes would be nice too =D. I will be majoring in Software Engineering so my classes will be mainly computer classes; Is there a specific location for these types of classes that are close to any one of the resident halls? I am not too fond of walking in the cold, and would like everything to be fairly close, at my fingertips. I just got my housing plan in the mail, and wanted some incite on this decision.

P.S.: How does one become an R.A? And what are the perks?

My Response:

I share your sentiments in regards of walking in the cold. So: you are looking for the most convenient residence hall, closest to the dining hall and campus. My best suggestion would be to try for Pearl Hall. It is right next to the dining hall and is in fact approx 50 steps to get there. Pearl Hall has a decent sized lounge and 3 washers and dryers in the basement. The rooms are pretty decently sized and range from doubles to quads. There's a quad that has its own bathroom, located on the first floor. After Pearl, then perhaps Cushing Hall, or Bader Hall (Both are nice, but I Pearl would be my first choice).

My knowledge about software engineering classes and where they are located is limited, but my general understanding is that those classes take place mostly in Skiff annex, which is right next to the admission office if you've ever taken a tour, which is something that I highly recommend ;-) The hall that is closest to Skiff Annex is Whiting Hall, although you probably wouldn't be taking too many software engineering related classes in your first year, but it's something to keep in mind. Now, Whiting is about 3 minutes from the dining hall as opposed to Pearl's 30 seconds (even less if you walk fast).

As for meal plans: you can change your meal plan at ANY point in the year. That being said, I would suggest purchasing the 19 meal a week plan until you get acclimated to college life. 19 will give you your 3 meals a day for Mon-Fri, plus brunch and dinner for Sat and Sun. So all your bases are covered. Some people get the Carte Blanche plan which is unlimited meals. I personally use a 15 meal a week plan. It's a little cheaper, and I don't usually get up in the morning for breakfast, I usually go for lunch and then, of course, dinner.

For RA: Requirements are a GPA of 3.0, and have lived at least one semester in Champlain Housing, I think that's it for requirements... As for the perks: you get your own single for free, and you receive a $2000 stipend throughout the year as compensation. The duties of being an RA are being "on duty" meaning being in your building at 8pm and being awake to 12am and being around for residents. RAs also have to plan programs, 1 educational, 1 social, and 1 bulletin board each month. It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun if you like to try new and interesting things. It's kind of like being Senior Patrol Leader, but easier than organizing an Eagle project.

Posted by Mat Kittle at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So it's Spring Break time, and I'm typing this from bed at home in Good Ole' Bristol Connecticut. I don't plan on doing much during break aside from relaxing and catching up on work, good stuff. My family and I are going to be getting a new dog tomorrow, since Sparky, our dog of 16 years died over winter break. So now it's been about a month and a half and we're ready to get a new one. This one we're going to name Sam. My mother's justification for the name was because she always liked the name Sam from the movie "Ghost" with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore (who was smokin' back then) she's still hot now, but not as much as she was in the 80's. AT ANY RATE: we're picking little Sam up tomorrow. I might post some images on the Blog (which interestingly enough I haven't done in a while) of little Sam as the week progresses for those that are interested to peruse through.
Have a good weekend!

Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So far I haven't really had any questions, or comments regarding housing or just what it's like to live on campus at Champlain in general. Does anyone have any of those questions? Just a reminder to my audience, I am an RA, so that in itself tends to suggest that I have a wealth of knowledge on this topic.

So questions like.....
What is living in the houses like?
What things can I bring to the house?
Who will my roommate be?
Can I have a car on campus?
What kind of computer do I need?
What's church street like?
What sort of activities are there on campus?

All of those are acceptable. To make this deal sweeter I'll also let you send emails to my campus email which is mathew.kittle@mymail.champlain.edu. Just to make sure to note that Mathew only has on 'T' in it. I know kind of weird. It could be the topic of another post perhaps if enough people are interested.

So send some questions...!!!!!

Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the recipe that we, as tour guides use in the Admission Office. Everyone prepares theirs in 8 oz cups, so here's that recipe: Two packets of Swiss Miss (usually milk chocolate with marshmallows) throw in two coffee creamer singles, then add water. That makes for a rich and creamy Hot Chocolate. That said, I use my own mug which is .5L (overcompensating? YES) In that I place again 2 packets 3 creamers, then water.

It's not my homemade hot chocolate (which is more creamy and sinful) but this will do in a pinch.

Have a good one y'all!
Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday is my toughest day, I have three classes in a row and little time for lunch, so I eat a big breakfast and then wait until the end of the day. I kind of get used to that, the morning gives me time to think and the evening gives me time to hang out with people in the cafe.

One of my favorite things to do in the cafe is to get into one of the booths and just sit there, and chill out. After a big snow storm you can watch the snow fall of the roof of the cafe because it sort of slides off and creates a ledge. This happens when the snow has melted a little bit, and then the water makes the ice underneath the snow, and then it gets wet again and you watch the snow just slide off. Sometimes you place bets on how long it will take and whether or not someone will get nailed while walking to or from the cafe. Sick game, but a lot of fun.

I also gave a tour today to someone interviewing for a Deans position. It was a short tour, about 30 minutes, but I like showing the school to adults from time to time because I can somewhat deviate from my usual script, or schedule and mix things up a bit. I also like meeting new people, that's why I got the tour guide job in the first place.

Well that's it for now. Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 8:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week has been incredibly busy, and I've been going crazy keeping up with with my job at the Admission office, job as an RA, and oh yeah...the big one, being a student. Sometimes it's hard to stay sane through all this stuff but when the weekend comes I really appreciate it. Today (Saturday) a few of my friends that are studying in Montreal at our satellite campus came to visit for the weekend so we went out to eat at a place called Sakura. Sakura is a Japanese restaurant with really good cuisine. I highly recommend. There are many places to eat, and this is a great place to go with friends or on a nice date with a girl/boy friend.

In other news, there's a lot of buzz around campus regarding the elections. Tables are set up outside the dining hall to register to vote. I've witnessed many people getting registered and it so far seems pretty successful.

Students are also getting geared up for alternative spring break, which is where students from our school go to New Orleans to aid in the effort to clean up after Hurricane Katrina. To raise money to fund the trip there are bottle drives and other fund raisers.

It's been snowing a lot lately here, which is a little irritating for me because I'm a Type A personality, as well as an INTP personality type on the Myers Briggs. So what I'm trying to say here is that I hate the snow because it slows me down, I hate walking on the sidewalk slipping and sliding around and it adds 3 extra minutes, maybe more to my trip. I hate being impeded.

That's it for now!

Cheers!
MSK

Posted by Mat Kittle at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)