Meet Jen, the Hall Director of the newly-renovated Colby Hall!
Q: Now that Colby has been renovated and Foster is no longer the all-female residence hall, has there been any noticeable changes in the community within Colby?
A: “I think there is a sense of pride in Colby. Our space is brand new and the women are proud to call this space their home. Other students on campus are curious to see the new renovations and the women in our community are happy to show it off! It’s a space they enjoy with a lot of common areas which changes the dynamics of the community. In Foster there is only one common space on the 2nd floor and a lobby area on the 1st floor, so the places to study and hang out outside your room were limited. In Colby we’re lucky to have several common spaces. We have lounges on each floor, study rooms on each floor, and the Colby Cove which has plenty of study areas along with a small meeting room. This allows the women to be out in the community getting to know one another and to study where they live.”
Q: What is your favorite part about the newly renovated Colby Hall?
A: “I love the Colby Cove which is our basement area. It has a lot of tables and fun furniture. The women really use that space to study and do group projects. It also has a laundry room, kitchen, a TV lounge, and the Colby Theatre. The Colby Theatre has a 90inch TV with surround sound. It’s a great place to watch away games, blue-ray movies, or Netflix!”
Q: What do you enjoy about being the Hall Director of Colby?
A: “The women of Colby make this space special. They’re so fun to get to know and so willing to get to know me. It’s fun to be a part of the all-female hall because I can relate to them very well. I understand where they’re coming from in many aspects of things, but most importantly I love just getting to know them. I love the relationships I have built and hope to continue to build more relationships as the year goes on.”
Q: Have there been any challenges that have come with being in a newly renovated hall?
A: “Yes, just like there are any other hall. Our challenges were more at the beginning of the year as women first moved in. People think since we’re brand new everything should work properly and it should function perfectly. What many people forget is that it’s the first time that 345 women have used the power at once, used the hot water, flushed the toilets, etc. It’s the first time it’s been lived in so we don’t know what things need tweaking. Fortunately, we didn’t have any major facility challenges but we did have a couple hiccups. Luckily, they were not big enough for many of our women to even notice.”
Q: What do you think the Colby Cuties have enjoyed the most so far about living in Colby?
A: “I think they’ve enjoyed being a part of the tradition of being a Colby Cutie and getting to be the first class to live in the brand new and improved Colby. So many women have lived in Colby and it’s fun to see alumna from 50 years ago talk about how it used to be when they lived here, but now this group of women gets to share that bond but in a different way. They get to be the ones that get to come back and say they were the first class in the renovated Colby. Being in Colby creates this natural bond to other Colby Cuties and the people are what make this place such a great community to enjoy.”
Photo courtesy of Jen Sepulveda