Growing up, I expected college to be the most successful era of my life. Throughout my high school years, I had the common uncertainty among students over what career I wanted to pursue. However, the one thing I was sure of was that I wanted the college life my oldest friends and family told me about from when they studied. They would describe their college years as the time they started to understand themselves and become who they are today, due to the revelations, diversity, and adversity they faced. More specifically, when reminiscing about their college years, they inevitably talk about how they met people, the counseling they received, the provided opportunities they took advantage of while on campus, the party life in Avenida Universidad, among many other commodities—like the fast food court below El Centro—which shaped them into who they are today. Anecdotes like these made me really look forward to that college experience.
Dr. Zulma I. Serrano Arroyo, a UPR alumni from the class of 2002 who graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences, reaffirms my previous sentiment and excitement: “For me, it was one of the best stages of my life. I was able to prove myself. I was very afraid of the independence I had to face. I was afraid of facing certain scenarios because I unconsciously knew that I was in an environment similar to that of my development, like in my own bubble. However, I loved my first four years of college because there are so many different groups of people and you find your group in the midst of all that diversity. I had my own group in the dorms, another in classes, others in the student associations and I felt a part of all of them.”
Just a year ago, I was admitted to the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and my journey has been different from what I expected. While putting myself out there to try to find ‘my group’ and begin the college life I was promised, I noticed the majority of the student body didn’t or perhaps couldn’t focus solely on their career journeys as I had been told many times. During my Freshman year, it was also hard not to notice how “administrative decisions, campus infrastructure, and the university’s environment can support or limit the concept of university life,” as said by third-year Education major student, Stella Cruz.
Similarly, students like Sofía Morales, fourth-year student majoring in Music, have noticed those administrative decisions strongly affect student life:
“I am in the Music Faculty. This department has so much potential, but since the building is so old, there are classrooms that are literally falling apart. The library has been closed since Hurricane Maria, and that is a space where students could go to study and do their assignments… You don’t want to get to your faculty’s building and see it falling apart, it takes away your motivation. I also know that in the Music Department there are a lot of musical groups and the university gives students a tuition exemption for being a member of one of these musical groups, that is, they pay for your studies, but there came a time when they took funding away and the groups were affected because students left.”
Now what exactly was my reality of college life? How could I make it work?
I remember sitting with other freshmen during my first year and seeing how most of my peers couldn’t make it to student orientation meetings throughout the semester because they had to work, were athletes, or had other academic responsibilities. When the student advisor tried to schedule further meetings so we could talk about how we were adjusting, ask any questions we may have had about the campus or our classes, and get to know the student associations the university had to offer, each week, there were fewer students in the meetings. I remember that an Architecture student, who at some point stopped attending the activities, once shared that they struggled to make ends meet for the materials they needed for their classes. And, as I kept meeting new people each semester, I learned that we all had our respective hardships as college students that prevented us from making the most out of our undergraduate journey.
I was living off of my scholarship and still had to work in my second semester of my sophomore year as a tutor to pay off living expenses, as I was living in the university’s dorms, having to learn how to manage all of it at once.
Dra. Zulma I. Serrano Arroyo (Class of 2002: Bachelors in Labor Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences)
This uncertainty has only grown and worsened since Dr. Serrano graduated. At a time when many students may feel that it is impossible to make the most of the college experience due to financial constraints, it is also a time to devise, support, and defend what protects students’ academic desires and goals. A support network is needed to encourage a more balanced college life for students and a new perspective on the part of the university administration by providing the necessary support.
College was and is what I make it to be. Even in adversity and with limitations, this experience is meant to help us grow and learn how to interact with the world. If students are too busy with external or future worries, we might not learn nor fully get the college experience that grants us new perspectives necessary for development. By this I mean that we can’t let ourselves go through this once in a lifetime experience without exploiting every single opportunity that, the University of Puerto Rico specifically, has to offer. We often get caught up in worrying about how to build the greatest resume, make ends meet financially, manage time for socializing, studying, working, and sometimes all of these things concern us at once.
Fundamentally, universities are made to support these goals, but what really makes it special, and what’s not so obvious to newcomers, is that we must be attentive to our journeys in order to uncover the opportunities and tools that will help manage such lifestyles and reach our goals. As many say: “Discovery awaits those who search.” Even with the obstacles and mishaps students in the University of Puerto Rico face, it is up to us to reclaim our spaces, actively pursue our goals, and advocate for the needs and aspirations that shape our college life. So, no, college life is not yet lost at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Which is why I invite you, student, to take advantage of the landmark that is UPR, which encompases all sources of knowledge and diversity, to build your college life as a catalyst for social reform.