Holly Pointe Commons is the newest Residence Hall to be established at Rowan University. Constructed in 2016, it houses over 1400 students, primarily freshmen, and is one of the shining examples of the new and improved facilities coming to Rowan in the near future. 

It was a dream come true when my roommate and I were selected to live in Holly because after seeing some of the other residential housing we could’ve gotten, it made all the sense to want to be at Holly as a freshman. However, within my almost three-week tenure living here, I’ve noticed a few problems within Holly that make it a lot less appealing to reside here.

Now don’t get me wrong, Holly Pointe is without a doubt the best residential house for freshmen to live in and it will continue to be that way considering how outdated and off-putting some of the other residence halls are. Holly is home to its own food court, spacious lounges with televisions where you can hang out with others, and air conditioning, which all of the other buildings deserve as well. However, there are red flags I’ve noticed while walking around the building so far and through the community Snapchat page relating to the Rowan Class of 2027. 

I’ve seen bathroom doors fall off somehow multiple times in the first few weeks, puke on multiple floors of the building, and have constantly dealt with broken elevators, which is attributed to people using them improperly.

“I’ve noticed exit signs inside the building ripped or taken off completely, and some odd instances of substances similar to blood around as well,” said Vinny Povio, a freshman resident at Holly Pointe.

Most of this, of course, isn’t on the faculty or the people running the building. I have a lot of respect for the people who have to deal with these inconveniences and most of the fault resides on the residents themselves.

Once again, don’t get me wrong, a lot of people– myself included, came to Rowan to have fun, enjoy new experiences, and have exciting times here at Holly Pointe. There’s always going to be commotion at night and the showers are never going to look much cleaner than they currently are. This is to be expected living in dorm life and I’m not trying to dig on fellow residents in any way because that’s what this experience is all about. Having fun, exploring, and having a great time with your dorm mates. However, it is really sad how poorly people take care of the things around them and somehow tear down bathroom doors or puke all over the place. Leaving the janitors, who I don’t even know how much they get paid, to deal with it. 

Having respect for everyone around you, and who you live alongside is important. Improper and destructive behavior, like not taking care of the place you and others live in, trashing the residence hall, and everything that comes with it shows how easy some people think they have it when life isn’t actually like that at all.

 I’ve spoken to a lot of freshmen who live in the other residence halls that would do unspeakable things to live in Holly Pointe and it is hard to have respect for the people that purposely wreck the place. There is a difference between having fun outside of your dorm room at Holly and simply being a destructive person who doesn’t care about any of the other people they are living with.

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