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My House
Home, suite home for college students
By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published September 10, 2005
ST. LEO - Gena Forbes knew the minute she pulled up to this small Catholic university in this west central Florida town known for its rolling hills and postcard vistas that she had found it.
Eureka.
The last stop.
Exactly where she was going to college.
"My mother said, "What about money and scholarships and other colleges?' and I said, "This is it.' I just knew," she remembers.
Now 21 and a senior with big plans to go on for a master's and Ph.D. in hopes of returning to her beloved school some day to teach English, she calls Saint Leo University her "home away from home."
In fact, she confesses, "Even on breaks I can't wait to get back."
In August, Gena was among the first students to move into the school's newest, apartment-style residence halls - a five-story peach-and-cream-colored building with a red-tiled roof and a very grownup, condo feel.
It's one of two new residence halls on campus, known simply as Buildings 3 and 4, providing hip, stylish housing for 323 students between them. The halls feature blue commercial carpeting, beige walls and red doors with matching corkboards framed in black.
The wood paneled-style elevator might have come straight from a Chicago high-rise.
The laundry room is state-of-the-art.
"And free," Gena raves. "That's the best part."
One community room - with its pool table, Pottery Barn color scheme, framed modern artwork, sleek conference room, cozy study tables and large, flat-screen TV - might have been plucked straight from a brochure for the newest gated community in Pasco.
And what ever you do, don't call them dorms anymore, Gena admonishes teasingly. "They're residence halls now."
Got it?
Gena shares a suite with three other young women: senior Ashley Sims, senior Katie Barnosky and sophomore Kat Errico. Each has her own room, and they share two bathrooms, which have matching sinks and vanities.
"I feel like I have my own space but that I'm still in a college living situation," Gena says. "That's the advantage of apartment-style suites."
Ashley decked out her room in beiges and neutrals and strung tropical lights over the bed.
Such lights are the accessory du jour at Saint Leo, chiefly because they're inexpensive and abundant at the nearby Wal-Mart.
She decorated her own room with a palm-tree patterned comforter, handmade photo collages of her big family and a large Georgia Peaches crate label that some friends found at a fruit stand.
The suite has a cute communal kitchen with a breakfast bar, granite-look countertops and matching chairs. The refrigerator and freezer are crammed with college girl food: $1 frozen pizzas, ice cream, pickles, organic milk, generic diet soda, nacho cheese dip, frozen waffles, bagels and chicken nuggets.
"Anything you want, we have it," she says proudly.
Cleaning is another story, though. Someone made a pizza the other night and didn't use a cookie sheet, and now there's gunk on the bottom of the oven.
They own a Swiffer for easy mopping. The trash is a shared duty.
"We're girls - we fight over who's going to take it out," Gena notes good-naturedly.
There's also a communal sitting area with university-issue furniture, a television and a futon that Gena brought for when the room fills up with extra guests - a frequent occurrence.
A resident assistant, she has been known to counsel other students through all kinds of crises, as well as hold Bible studies in the suite.
"She definitely helped me when I wasn't studying enough," says Kat, a biology major, as she pops a frozen pizza in the oven. "She set up study sessions and a schedule for me - and it worked. I started doing better."
Gena, an honors student who received a full academic scholarship this year, grew up in Locust Grove, Ga., a town one hour south of Atlanta. The oldest of five children, she's a Catholic. Her boyfriend, a student at the University of North Florida, is a surfer.
She collects Teddy bears.
She loves living in Florida because she can wear flip-flops.
And go to the beach whenever she's not studying, which isn't very often.
She takes school seriously, throwing herself into her English studies, becoming fluent in the nuances of the literature of the American South, her specialty. She serves on student government, landed a nice role in the upcoming fall play, and works hard at her resident assistant job, staffing the front desk until midnight and remaining on call all night for students who need her.
For next week, Gena's planned a potluck dinner and discussion in the suite about diversity issues. That's news to at least one of her roommates.
"We are?" Ashley shouts from her bedroom.
Shouts Gena: "Forgot to tell you - haven't made the signs yet!"
Chances are turnout will be good. The best part of coming to the suite is the view, oh, the view.
The young women call it "our little piece of real estate" Gena and Ashley say.
A head-on of Lake Jovita in all its loveliness.
"The sunsets are beautiful; sometimes we just sit here and do our homework while the sun is setting," Gena says. "I mean, where else could you live where you're in the country with a view like this and just an hour's drive from the beach?"
[Last modified September 10, 2005, 01:23:18]
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