One week before move-in, transfer student Hannah Tucker, LSOE ’21, still hadn’t received her housing assignment. Worried that she would be placed in temporary housing, Tucker called a Boston College ResLife representative and asked point blank if she would be assigned to an overflow room. The ResLife representative assured her that wouldn’t be the case—she would have a comfortable bed and a place to live upon arrival.
The next day, Tucker received an email that assigned her, along with 10 other sophomores, to live on the Newton Campus in a converted lounge with the prospect of guaranteed senior housing. Formerly a communal space for the residents of Keyes Hall, the lounges were furnished with couches and tables for reflecting and floor bonding.
Tucker had applied to transfer to BC after winter break of her freshman year from Husson University in Bangor, Maine. The first time through the college process, she admits she knew she wasn’t making the right decision, and that her choice was swayed by her desire to continue playing field hockey. After her first week of preseason, Tucker knew she didn’t belong there and found herself ready to leave before classes had even begun.
Almost 1,000 miles south and 15 degrees warmer, Autumn Hauser, MCAS ’21, was in a similar situation. Originally from New Hampshire, she flew down to UNC Wilmington, looking for a different experience in college, but found it overwhelmingly different—“superficial” and “surface level” were a few of the words she used to describe her experience. By Sept. 1, Hauser knew she wanted to move back to New England.