Dorm Reviews

Life as a Lumberjack has been doing some great stuff in asking her followers to talk about some of their dorms. So, I decided I would put some of the reviews on here so that any incoming freshman will have a little idea as to what they are going into. I know for me it was a little difficult, but I had my brother here to help me (he is a current freshman) and the dorm that I am hoping to get into is Wilson. I may have left out a few dorms, so just let me know, or just click the link to her site :).

“I’ve lived in Cowden and McConnell. I lived in Cowden during my freshman year, and I enjoyed it. Yeah, it kinda sucks because it’s a twenty-four hour quiet hall, but it actually came in handy when I needed to sleep or study. Also, the rooms are pretty nice – although they don’t have sinks. The bathrooms have enough sinks so that there are never any lines, fortunately. It’s also in an incredibly convenient place – right next to the union, right across from Ardrey, really close to the library…it’s actually a really good dorm to be in. I currently RA for McConnell Hall, and although it’s on South campus, it’s actually not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The rooms are big in comparison to other dorms. The view from the windows is nice. The DuB has much better food than the Hot Spot, in my opinion (although the Hot Spot does have more choices), and late night food is readily available. There are sinks in the rooms and it is the most populated dorm on campus. Walking to north campus only takes about twenty-five minutes at most. It’s really not a big deal. The shuttles make it helpful too.” – http://aliciaxlovely.tumblr.com/

“I’d highly suggest Wilson Hall for incoming Freshmen. It has co-ed floors so you can make a lot of friends from both genders right away.

I’m not sure if Sechrist has co-ed floors, but I loved every second in Wilson.” – http://amnesiacr.tumblr.com/

“Your experience will vary depending on the personality of your floormates. My experience with Sechrist was that it was relatively loud; the guy above me played the same three notes on his guitar on-end, while the guys below spent their lives smoking pot out their window, which sucked for me because I don’t particularly like the smell of marijuana. 

When it counts though, Sechrist can be quiet; I had my TV on during reading week last year and the patrolling RA made sure I closed my door. 

I would recommend Sechrist if you are a social person because you will make invaluable friends and if it gets too loud you can always ask your neighbors to be quiet. Also, quiet hours are from 10 PM until 8 AM and you can always ask your RA to remind your floormates of this fact.” – http://life-as-a-lumberjack.tumblr.com/

“WELL. I live in Allen at the moment, and I can say that this year has been off the charts with renovations and whatnot. We’ve had construction outside, bathroom pipes being fixed, hot water being shut off, new shower heads being installed (which takes surprisingly long), the entire inside of the hall being painted on all floors, key locks being changed, and a whole slew of other small things.

All of these, particularly the situation with the bathrooms, have been horridly inconvenient because they would shut off all the water each time. This went on for almost four months from October to January. Haha.

That said, though. I would imagine that for anybody living there next year, all the improvements will be done by then, and that Allen will once again be one of the better Freshmen halls to live in at NAU.” – http://hesuseu.tumblr.com/

I did get these from Life as a Lumberjack’s page, and left out quite a few questions and concerns about dorms that you may want to check out.

Also, here’s a  link for some pictures of the buildings at NAU.

Just a quick reminder, I’m not always going to be “stealing” stuff from other people. Once I move up to Flagstaff, almost everything I post on here will be my own. I just want to make that clear:)

My freshman orientation is June 2nd-3rd so I’m assuming that June 3rd-4th sometime you can be expecting a lovely update about what the orientation is like, what you should expect, as well as some pictures and just overall spoilers 🙂

First Annual NAU Spring Fling

Article link provided by Life as a Lumberjack.

Article provided by Northern Arizona News.

Tomorrow, NAU’s fields will be packed to capacity with throngs of students seeking a true carnival experience. Mechanized rides will be roaring, hot food will be sizzling and live music will be blasting. The reason for this brouhaha is NAU’s first ever Spring Fling, a celebration geared towards providing students with an unforgettable experience while helping give back to NAU clubs and the Flagstaff community.

The 1st Annual NAU Spring Fling will be held from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow on the Observatory and Hilltop Fields. Students will be asked to show their IDs and sign a waiver form before entering the event grounds, and non-students will be required to pay a $2 entry fee. Each attendee will be given a wristband that allows them to ride the attractions free of charge.

Sammy Smart, ASNAU Vice President of Student Affairs, said the Spring Fling is a product of the 2010 “23″ Fee Survey.

“When we did the survey, [NAU Spring Fling] was one of the 15 original potential projects that ASNAU would start [working on],” Smart said. “It received over 50% student approval and wound up in the top eight. [The students] decided they wanted it, so here it is.”

Smart said the concept for the event  arose from a long-running event held by a fellow Arizona university.

“It was inspired by UA’s Spring Fling because it’s a really big tradition,” Smart said. “We wanted to provide a tradition that students could count on every single year and that they’d remember when they left NAU.”

Kyle Porter, the ASNAU Special Events Coordinator, said the overall goal was to put on a legitimate event for students to enjoy.

“We wanted to bring a [typical] carnival … with a ferris wheel and fun tilt-a-whirl,” Porter said. “We’re bringing in five big carnival rides.”

The attractions consist of traditional amusement park rides, including a ferris wheel, zipper, tilt-a-whirl, swings and gravitron. They are being provided by Midway West Amusement Park Rentals, whose rides grace the Arizona State Fair grounds every year.

Originally, the Spring Fling was going to be held solely on Hilltop Field, but due to overwhelming interest from NAU clubs, ASNAU decided to expand the event to the field across the street as well. Porter said the event grounds will be full of student organization booths and tables.

“The student clubs will be setting up activities,” Porter said. “We’ve had about [20] student clubs come and say ‘We wanna to do these events.’”

Participating student organizations include the Society of Hispanic Engineers, American Marketing Association and several theater clubs. NAU Greek Life Spring Fling participants consist of Chi Omega, Delta Chi, Sigma Chi, Gamma Phi Beta and Pi Kappa Phi. Noteworthy planned carnival activities include pie throwing, balloon boards and dunk tanks.

Smart said ASNAU intended the Spring Fling to be an ideal fundraising opportunity for NAU student organizations.

“The participating clubs make 100% profit, so it’s a great fundraising opportunity,” Smart said. “We were able to use ’23′ Fee funds, giving it back to the student clubs and organizations by saying, ‘We’ll help you set up and get your booth going so that way you can make the most money from this event.’”

Jenna Sorrell, a junior marketing major and head of the NAU Women’s Water Polo Club Team, said she was looking forward to the chance to raise some money for her team.

“We volunteered because we thought it would be a great opportunity to earn money for our club,” Sorrell said. “I think the Spring Fling in general is going to be a great event, and I am looking forward to being a part of it. It will be heaps of fun.”

A battle of the bands competition will be held in the evening hours of 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Hosted by the New Student Organization, the event features six competing bands who will play live in front of a panel of judges until one is crowned the victor. The participating musical groups are Monarch Crest, Jacob and Joel, The DCDV, Fractals, Elegy and Savant.

In addition, the Spring Fling is paired with ASNAU’s annual Big Event, which will sponsor a community-wide philanthropy that will positively benefit NAU and the Flagstaff community.

ASNAU encourages students to bring a donation of a canned food or clothing item to the Spring Fling. The first 2,000 students to donate will receive a ticket worth a dollar that can be used as currency at student club booths.

Article written by Trevor Gould.