Libra welcomes freshmen

For many incoming college freshmen, one of the best things about continuing their academic journeys is finally being able move out of their parents' house and live on their own.

This means no more curfews, no more bedtimes and no more chores.
To help ease the transition from total parental control to complete college freedom, many students choose to live on campus their first year.

Living on campus will alleviate the responsibility of remembering to pay rent on time, having to cook your own meals and even having to clean up after yourself.

UCF offers several different housing communities on different parts of campus.

There's The Towers, located near The Arena, Lake Claire, located near the Nicholson School of Communication, Apollo, located near the Reflection Pond, and Nike and Hercules, located near the Recreation and Wellness Center.

These communities house undergraduate students of all ages and academic standings.
Then there's Libra, located on the southeast end of campus near the Health Center.

Libra is a community designed entirely for freshmen and is where many first-year students choose to reside.

"Libra is like in the middle, it's not as far as Nike and Hercules or the Towers, so it's easy to get around to anywhere you want go like the gym or class," said Jomiloju Ogunsina, a sophomore health sciences major.

The Libra community consists of six resident halls with a community center and laundromat in the center.

According to Christine Dellert at UCF News & Information, 2,696 freshmen are expected to live on campus in the fall, with about 995 of those freshmen living in the Libra community.
Incoming freshman have many different housing options at Libra.

Students have the option of requesting a dorm in the "Green House," which is located in Brevard Hall. According to the UCF Housing and Residence website, "The purpose of the Green House community is to provide residents the opportunity to live in an environment that focuses on recycling and conservation efforts."

Out-of-state students also have the option of becoming involved with Libra's Out of State Student Mentoring Program.

These students reside in Flagler Hall and are offered a variety of different programs to make their transition into the UCF community easier.

The resident assistants who oversee the program were once freshmen Out of State students themselves.

Each room in Libra has two beds and a bathroom that connects to another room with two beds. Yes, this means you will have to share a small room with one other person and a bathroom with three other people.

Although privacy isn't exactly prevalent in the Libra community, there are many perks of deciding to live there, or on campus in general, during your first year at UCF.

Because you'll have to share a room and a bathroom, you'll have ample opportunity to get to know your roommate and your suitemates.

Conflicts over shower time and locked bathroom doors are somewhat unavoidable, but the situation is usually resolved within a few weeks.

Besides your roommate and suitemates, you'll also meet the people living on your floor and in your building.

The good thing about Libra is that everyone is in the same situation, that is, they're being put into a new situation that may not be entirely comfortable for them and everyone is looking to make friends.

"I enjoyed being able to run into a large number of people and quickly make friends, which made the living experience much better," said Shared Gonzalez, sophomore micro and molecular biology major and former Libra resident.

To help assist you in making new friends and becoming accustomed to life on campus, you'll have a resident assistant living on your floor.

Their job is to organize meetings, do health and safety inspections and to make sure everyone is following all the rules.

"As basic as I can put it I am a facilitator of information and services," said Timothy Johnson, a member of the Residence Life staff. "On top of that I make sure that the residents are safe and ensure a positive community."

Although they are forced to hold meetings a few times a semester, they're always quick and painless and usually some sort of food will be supplied as an incentive.

The rules set up by the resident assistant are pretty standard.

No drinking or smoking in the dorm, no pets, no weapons, etc.

Although the resident assistants must make sure all residents adhere to the rules, that doesn't mean the residents can't still have a little fun.

"I don't know what happened that night, but the whole pod area looked like a mess, couches and tables were turned upside down," said Ogunsina, who lived in Libra during the 2009 academic year.

Overall, former residents seemed to enjoy living in Libra.

"Libra was tight, I would definitely recommend living there," said Brendan Jones, sophomore civil engineering major.