A new semester brings a new lifestyle to students who make their first move from dorm rooms to apartments. Some students find the transition to be just what they needed while others feel as if they “jumped the gun.”

Dental Hygiene sophomore, Courtney Hoover said she enjoyed the transition into her new apartment in Sunwatcher with her roommate since freshman year, Marissa Lopez, exercise physiology sophomore.

“The transitions been good,” Hoover said. “It’s been really nice to have your own space and having the kitchen is really nice too.”

Lopez, however, said she found that the switch made it hard to keep everything, but eventually discovered how to work through it.

“I threw away a lot of stuff because we had too much stuff in the dorm room, and it was like right at Christmas, so I asked for it all at Christmas,” Lopez said. “We moved in everything pretty well.”

After living in Killingsworth and Legacy, Hoover admits she will miss the Legacy study rooms, but will learn to adapt if it means she has more space and her own bathroom.

“Now that I have like the living room I can study there,” Hoover said,  “Besides that, I really don’t lose a whole lot besides the study rooms. I like having my own bathroom — that’s been pretty nice and that’s one of the biggest reasons I wanted to move out of the dorms.”

Making the move to Sunwatcher is exactly what Hoover and Lopez wanted when they applied for both apartments last fall. Hoover finds that having an outside apartment compared to the hotel style that Sundance brings, is less of hassle when it comes to getting through the front door.

“We wanted Sunwatcher anyway because we really don’t like the hotel style apartments,” Hoover said. “I like being able to walk into my apartment door and not having to go through like keying people in and all that kind of stuff. We can just invite people over. We don’t have to swipe into our building. It’s safer, but it’s just annoying sometimes.”

Lopez feels the transition to apartments isn’t for every classification, and it’s best to go through the dorm room experience before deciding to move to an apartment.

“I definitely agree with keeping freshman in dorms first,” Lopez said. “It helps you get involved with people and like other things and organizations and stuff like that.”

Once students experience living in the dorms Hoover encourages anyone who is wanting to move to the apartments, to go for it “especially if they’ve already had dorm experience.” According to Hoover, the freedom is “worth it.”

Athletic training junior, Jaclyn Carranza made the transition from Legacy to Sunwatcher last fall semester hoping to get a taste of what real life would be like after she graduates.

“I decided to go to an apartment, so I could get a feel for real life,” Carranza said. “Like what it’s gonna be when I actually have an apartment for myself rather than being kind of dependent upon other people to help me out and other people to be there for me. I figured if I was in an apartment, I would get use to how it is whenever I do graduate college and get out of here.”

After making the move, Carranza actually prefers the dorms over the apartments. While apartments offer more freedom for students, dorm life left an impact on her that she never expected.

“My social life has changed drastically,” Carranza said. “Because you stick with who you know rather than trying to go out and meet new people, I prefer dorms over apartments. There’s a lot more to do and interaction with other people rather than in an apartment.”

Although Carranza believes the transition has helped her grow as a person, the changes between dorm and apartment changed how she communicated the people ad herself.

“I think it’s helped me grow as a person because I’ve had a lot more time for myself,” Carranza said. “I do miss that aspect of having my friends around, down the hallway or like up the stairs whenever I needed them.”

Carranza sees each housing option as providing a different lifestyle and leaves it up to the students to decide how involved they are trying to become.

“The best part of apartment life is there’s a lot more time that you have for yourself,” Carranza said, “There’s a lot more quiet time you can get because you’re not really worrying about people three floors above you yelling or people who are being loud down the hallway. It’s a lot more quieter than dorm life, but there’s a lot more to do and a lot more ways that you can meet new people than you can in apartment life.”

After a semester of living in the apartments, Carranza’s advice to students is to wait until they are ready socially, before deciding to move to an apartment.

“If they’re set in who their friends are and have a certain group of friends they can rely on, then I think you’re ready for an apartment,” Carranza said. “But if you’re still trying to make new friends and meet new people then I definitely say to stay in the dorms and enjoy it while it last.”