I interviewed Freshmen in a non-scientific survey to see how they are enjoying life on campus at the start of this academic year.
This was prompted by UWM’s news release stating that the “3,781 new freshmen” enrolled is the highest “since 2009”.
Opinions ranged from mild complaints about wait times for things like food and elevators to nervous excitement about meeting new people and making lasting connections.
Student Opinions
I posed questions about the quality of life when living on campus and got back an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm in regards to expanding their circles.
One Freshman I interviewed lives in the North tower of Sandburg and says they are enjoying all the new freedoms of the area.
I asked them what their goals are for the first academic year.
“[To] Make a lot of connections … I want to see different people and better opportunities here. It’s a city. There’s going to be more internships, opportunities, fellowships.”
They also said, “I’m surprised by how many activities that are on campus that are for free.”
Another Freshman I asked has similar goals.
“My goal right now is to really get out there and talk to a lot of people,” they replied.
I also wanted to get a sense of whether or not new students feel like they are getting their money’s worth at UWM.
After asking the question, “Do you feel like you are getting what you paid for at UWM?” I got pretty consistently positive answers back.
“I think everyone is paying too much to go to college, but there are a lot of benefits, like the gym, the food … there are luxuries that come with it that are definitely nice to have, so I’d say it’s worth it,” an additional Freshman responded.
A Freshman going into Theatre Production stated, “I feel like the quality of life and the quality of all the things I have access to is pretty good.”
A different Freshman thought contrary to their peers and said, “I feel like right now, as in this moment, not quite, because I’m still adjusting to everything … but I feel like if I could get myself more involved in my sophomore, junior, or senior year and focus a lot more in school, I feel like I will be getting what I paid for.”
I heard tell of an old, yet consistent problem of long wait times for most of the essential services in the Sandburg Towers.
To get a sense of whether these problems are a thing of the past or not, I asked these Freshmen if long wait times are a constant problem.
“If you go to the dining hall at the wrong time, it’s going to take you, like 30 minutes to get your food,” the Freshman said. “I was late to class today because the elevator … I had to wait 10 minutes.”
“Oh, yeah. There are tons of lines … [but] lines are lines, so it’s not that big of a deal. You have to wait in lines your entire life … honestly, [it] helped me build some patience,” a not-so-bothered Freshman said.
Overall, I get the sense that this incoming class is full of optimism and hope, as everything is still so new.
We will see how they fare as the homework begins piling up and midterms fast approach.
“I think things have been pretty good here so far. I mean, maybe midterms or exams are going to change my mind,” as this Freshman half-jokingly puts it.