You get to understand hardship when you’ve watched your mother trying to make ends meet with any money she can find. The hassle of trying to pay bills and anything else that is thrown her way. These days single mothers have to be smart and know their way around. This is kind of hard when you’re new to a country where you don’t speak the language and have to start your life over with a five year old girl. “Everything I went through was worth it” said Geamom Souza, ex-immigrant and single mother.

When you walk into this lively coffee shop, you feel instantly awakened. The open windows make you feel alive and the friendly faces, welcomed. You’re greeted by whoever is making popsicles, then the barista. The barista is a student at Belhaven, he’s been here since almost six in the morning. The barista had some friends come visit him so he could get through the day. He presents the menu to you and is ready to answer any questions you may have. My question was if a lot of people come here in the morning. Perhaps knowing I attended Belhaven, he answered, “Not a lot of Belhaven people, but many Belhaven (the neighborhood) residents and Millsaps students.”

At Tulane University, Justin hugger, freshman psychology major, describes his experience in his dorm as pretty low standard for the amount he pays for tuition. “I end up not wanting to go in my dorm as much because of the quality. I’d rather study somewhere else. It’s more like i’m paying to have access to the university instead of paying for my own living space.” Katelyn Head, junior communications major, from Belhaven University said, “I like my dorm because it is cozy, but we have a ladybug infestation at night that can get a little annoying. Hannah Vanderbijl, senior international studies major, who is a resident advisor in the same dorm as Head, said, “The heating/cooling systems could be more efficient.” The same temperature problem persists with Josie Brown, sophomore nursing major, “The temperature sometimes makes it miserable to be on campus,” she said about Gillespie Commons at Belhaven University. Vanderbijl and Brown both get a lot of complaints that can sometimes be fixed, but usually it’s an infrastructure problem.

Some students are fine with the quality of their dorm because it is satisfactory to the amount of tuition is paid. Corey Barkum, freshman computer science major, at Southeastern Louisiana University said, “ I have no complaints so far, my bed is so comfortable that I often struggle leaving bed for class.” Charity Williams, sophomore social work major, of Belhaven University feels the price of her dorm is “Way overpriced, but the quality is nice.” Meanwhile, Hugger is ready to move out of the dorms because “the apartments around the campus are cheaper, better maintenance, they have personal bathrooms, and they are cleaner and bigger for better pricing.

Many students are just grateful to have a place to live while going to school all week. Commuting can make it harder to do better in school and become accustomed to the school environment. Vanderbijl said, “I personally love it [her dorm]. It’s very homey and cozy to me and central to the rest of the campus.” Fortunately, most of these students said their dorm quality doesn’t affect their school life but they would rather not live in a dorm. “Yes, the dorms aren’t great, but I wouldn’t replace the great moments I spent in my dorm” said Head. Prospective students should talk to other students about the dorms before moving in, so they could avoid any of these issues and be comfortable for the next years of their life.