It takes 17 minutes to walk to the Pit from Hinton James Residence Hall, according to the Carolina Housing website. Going to Franklin Street adds ten more to the trek. When your friends are just a suite away, it’s not too bad. But things gets tricky when they’re in Lark, Chapel Ridge or a house in Carrboro.
Christopher Williams, a junior information science major, said his friends would never visit him when he was a resident adviser in Hinton James last school year.
“They would rather hang out in an apartment than a 15-by-13 dorm room,” said Williams.
For resident advisers, the decision to live with first-years can affect their personal time as an undergrad. While it can be a meaningful experience, several RAs agreed that it was possible to feel isolated when you live alone in a South Campus dorm.
“It’s definitely odd to be an upperclassmen and be on the path ready to graduate, and you’re surrounded by people who are just starting their college career,” said senior psychology major Sydney Ramsey.
“You see on Snapchat or Instagram that they’re all going out, going to these parties, going to concerts, or doing these weekend vacations, and you can’t go, because you have to submit your time away,” Ramsey said.
Rick Bradley, associate director of Carolina Housing, said they hear very few instances of RAs feeling isolated.
“When they apply for the job, they give serious thought to that issue of whether they want to stay on campus and work with what type of student population,” Bradley said.
RAs pay $711 for housing each semester, whereas the lowest housing rates are $3,240 per semester. While RAs pay substantially lower than the average cost of a dorm, or the cost of living off-campus in an apartment or house, some say it isn't necessarily worth the price.
