When I was first looking for housing for this academic year I disregarded the possibility of graduate housing. My biggest concerns overall were having to pay for parking garages and paying higher rent prices. By the time I truly considered it, around July, there were waiting lists that made it unlikely. Thankfully, I got a Facebook message from a fellow TEAM student in which she asked me to be her roommate. She had been assigned a two-bedroom apartment at Goler House, which houses both faculty and graduate students for the University of Rochester. We continued messaging each other, no doubt each secretly analyzing if the other would make a good roommate! She seemed very likeable, and the pricing was better than I expected, especially furnished, so I accepted the offer.
When I arrived at Goler sometime in late August, I was surprisingly pleased with our apartment. We have a big living room, big bedrooms (definitely bigger than any on-campus room I have had before), and two personal closets for each of us. Plus, it was very clean. I did not bring my car to campus, because I thought I would have to pay the prices I saw for the campus parking lots. It turned out that was not the case. My wonderful dad is bringing my car to me this March; then I will be able to park it in the Whipple Lot free of charge. Fortunately, the shuttle service from Goler to campus is constantly running during weekdays and occasionally on weekends. I also have good friends who don’t mind giving me a ride from time to time. I can easily walk to CVS, Bruegger’s Bagels, and other places along Mt. Hope Avenue, even in the snow (go figure). I love being able to walk a short distance to campus, especially when I accidently miss a shuttle. On the days when it is particularly cold, a regular occurrence for Rochester winters, I can walk through the University of Rochester Medical Center to keep warm for most of the distance.
The only negative I have experienced with my housing choice so far was the constant fire alarms last semester caused by the new and very sensitive system throughout the building. They had just changed them so I guess a time of adjustment was necessary. Several weeks have passed by this semester with only one fire alarm. I hope it stays this infrequent. Besides that, I am having a lot of fun with my roommate; we get along very well, cooking and sharing food on a regular basis. I like having people over from time to time, and I like hanging out with the other team students living in the building. I can also easily ride the shuttle to University Park and eat food courtesy of the TEAM students living there. Overall, living in Goler has been convenient and enjoyable. I am so glad my roommate asked me to live with her! I know my experience in Rochester would have been completely different had I ended up somewhere else.
– Jennifer Fadimba ’14 (MS)