The University of Massachusetts Boston moved students into their new dorms on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018. Not only did the campus and students make history that day, but it brought joy and ease to the freshman, and few sophomores, who moved in. They would be close to their classes, have a meal plan, friends to spend time with, and a resident’s assistant to guide them through this transition. That was until everything started to break on Monday, Sept. 3, 2018. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but the dorms were not the amazing paradise the school claimed them to be.
For one, the elevators sometimes did not work in either of the buildings. I myself came home one night and had to climb to the seventh floor because both of the West Resident Hall’s elevators were out of commission.  What is an even more stressful experience is turning on your shower and not having any hot water. Yes, students in the East Resident Hall had to suffer without any hot water for a few days. This is not the end of the world, but students pay a pretty hefty price to live somewhere and not be able to enjoy hot water. What I found the most stressful to fix was trying to get the Wi-Fi to work. Being part of a technology-addicted generation, not having Wi-Fi is agonizing. These might all be problems, but it was not the biggest problem that the buildings were having. Personally, my number one concern is safety. This is because UMass Boston is in Boston and cities are not usually the safest places to live. To get into the main parts of both the West and East Resident Halls, you must scan your fob to be able to pass through the gates. Not only that, if you live in the West Hall, you always must scan your ID to get into the building. This would be a great way to keep everyone safe, if it worked. Every time I come into my building, there is something wrong with the security. This could be that the scan to get into the building is broken, the gates that I scan my fob to get through are down, or there is no one at the front desk at all. This is a major thing that must be addressed.
So, I know I have been putting the dorms down a lot. Even with all these incidents, overall this is a very nice place to live. I love my roommate, the food is pretty good, my floor and resident assistant are amazing, and the rooms are very nice. Even in my double with a private bath, it feels roomy and cozy at the same time. Yes, the rooms are small but the giant floor to ceiling window makes it feel larger. The public bathrooms are very nice and offer a lot of privacy and I have yet to find one that has run out of toilet paper. Not only that, the dorms are trying very hard to get to the bottom of what is going on and fixing it. This gives me hope that the quality of life in the dorms will improve greatly and make me feel like the money I am spending is worth it.