Why UST in Houston is My Home Away From Home | Campus Life at UST
Editor’s Note: Living on campus at the University of St. Thomas in Houston is a formative experience for hundreds of freshmen each year. Resident assistant Joveline Ollero (Cooperative Engineering, YEAR) tells us why campus life at UST played such an important role in her college experience.
Leaving home was a scary and exciting experience, but the wonderful community in Guinan Hall at the University of St. Thomas has made the transition from Hawaii to Houston much smoother than it could have been. The moment I stepped off of the plane for my first semester at UST, my body knew that Houston was its new home.
Forging New Friendships at UST’s Mendenhall Summer Institute
I participated in the Mendenhall Summer Institute, which was a good chance for me to meet some of my classmates in a smaller environment. MSI also gave me a chance to learn the ins and outs of campus life like how to survive finals and how to manage your newly liberated life.
Discovering the Benefits of Residential Life on the St. Thomas Campus
By the end of the summer, I already had a grip on what it is like to be away from home, but it wasn’t until the fall semester that I started to call Guinan Hall my home. ResLife planned a big event on the first night for the freshmen to allow all the new residents living on campus at UST to meet the other people that lived in the building. Throughout the semester, they also had Wonderful Wednesday, which served as a weekly mingling opportunity and a nice study break for everyone. It always felt like a family gathering around to eat and enjoy everyone’s presence.
My hallway was not a particularly active hallway, but I did make a few friends that have really made living in Guinan such a great experience. We would have late night study sessions that normally involved a few silly YouTube videos just to keep us motivated through the night. In Guinan, every night felt like a sleepover with the greatest people on Earth.
I loved the community in Guinan residence hall so much that I knew I had to be a part of the . I have been on the Residence Life team for nearly three years now and I could not be happier about being able to help others adjust to UST student life and feel at home in the Residence Halls here.
I did make a few friends that have really made living in Guinan such a great experience. We would have late night study sessions that normally involved a few silly YouTube videos just to keep us motivated through the night. In Guinan, every night felt like a sleepover with the greatest people on Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSB5Sw2aKzI
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