Tag Archives: Residence Hall

Announcements, Events / Programs

Candy Land Event

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On Thursday January 31st in the South Great Room , Housing and Residential Programs will be hosting an event to highlight the housing selection process and the different room types available. The theme for the housing selection process this year is candy and sweets. Our big event this year will follow the theme and will be a life-size game of “Candy Land” for students to learn more information on the housing selection process and have fun with their friends at the same time.

By following the game path and playing mini games along the way, students will be able to learn more about the different housing room types we offer as well as buildings. There will also be information about when students can select their room for Fall 2019-Spring 2020. Students who come to the event and participate will also be able to enter to win different prizes including an early selection time. So if you want information or want to have some fun, come on down and play Candy Land!

Lifestyle / Hall Life

Thanksgiving In the Halls

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Thanksgiving is right around the corner. This holiday celebrates thanking your loved ones and friends for everything they do and showing that you appreciate them. For college students, it also is a time to have a break from classes in order to celebrate the holiday. If you want to get a head start on the celebrations and create them here at Millersville, here are some ideas on how to kick off the holiday season with your friends.

  1. Host a “Friends-giving”

Use the kitchens in the residence halls to create a Thanksgiving dinner for you and all your friends!  Getting all your friends to pitch in to buy the supplies and actually cook the meal can be a fun and different way for you and your friends to spend a weeknight or weekend.  

2. Decorate Your Door For the Holiday

Decorating your door for the different holidays can get you into the holiday spirit and spread holiday cheer to the other residents. This can also give students time to be creative and show off their talents. You can see our Pinterest account for some ideas , our username is @villehousing .

3. Watch Your Favorite Thanksgiving Episodes of TV Shows With Your Friends

A bunch of TV shows have great Thanksgiving episodes. Every Thanksgiving, I make sure watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  Also, I started a tradition with my college friends that we watch the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends and Gossip Girl together. This is a great way to relax and spend time with your friends while being festive. Here are the episodes incase you and friends want to watch them!

Thanksgiving episodes of friends

  • Season 1 episode 9
  • Season 2 episode 8
  • Season 3 episode 9
  • Season 4 episode 8
  • Season 5 episode 8
  • Season 6 episode 9
  • Season 7 episode 8
  • Season 8 episode 8
  • Season 9 episode 8
  • Season 10 episode 8

Thanksgiving episodes of Gossip Girl

  • Season 1 episode 9
  • Season 2 episode 11
  • Season 3 episode 11
  • Season 4 episode 10
  • Season 6 episode 8

4. Make a List of What You Are Thankful For

This may seem sappy, but at the end of the day this holiday celebrates all of the things we are thankful for. Taking the time to create a list, will make you realize all the great things and people in your life. You can even take it a step further and thank the people who mean a great deal to you.

5. Create Thanksgiving Themed Crafts With Your Friends

Remember in elementary school when we would make hand turkeys?  Why not do it now? This can be a fun and nostalgic way to celebrate the holiday and have a good time with your friends. Also, these can include other crafts as well, not just the famous hand turkey.

6. Volunteer

Thanksgiving can also be a great time to show your community you are thankful for them by volunteering. Taking the time to volunteer or donate supplies to make Thanksgiving dinner is a great way to give back to the community and make sure others have a great holiday as well.

We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Health & Wellness, Lifestyle / Hall Life

How To Decorate Your Room To Improve Your Mood

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The environment you live in can affect your mood and emotions in many ways. While you are in college and stressed by many classes and assignments, the last thing you want to worry about is a cluttered or stressful room. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that your room is relaxing to you and creates an environment where you feel safe. Throughout the years I have lived in the residence halls, I have discovered what types of things or decorations make me feel relaxed in my own room. Here are a list of helpful tips I learned about decorating a dorm room.

 

  1. Think about how colors change your mood.

Colors can be associated with different emotions and feelings. If you decorate your room to how you want to feel, it can create the type of environment you desire. For example, blues, greys and greens are naturally soothing colors and can create a relaxing environment. While on the other hand, rooms decorated in bright colors like pink, yellow and orange can lift your energy and your spirits. Try not to choose overly dark colors because they can translate into feeling gloomy and it also makes it hard to feel cheerful. I add bright colors to keep me energized and happy.

2. Clean up clutter.

If you have a cluttered desk or dresser, this can make you feel overwhelmed and stressed within your own room. By taking the time everyday to put items away, you can reduce the number of things that pile up over the course of the day. If you leave your items to pile up, this can also affect your sleep schedule and can lead to not getting a peaceful night of sleep.

 

3. Make your bed everyday.

I know that a lot of people say they do not have the time to do this, or think this is stupid, but doing this everyday can make you feel better. Along with making your room look nice and well kept, this can also prevent you from crawling back into bed after coming back from class. By doing this simple task every morning, you will feel more organized and keep you going all day long.

4. Decorate with items or pictures you love.

Create an environment with familiar faces and items . You will feel happy and more refreshed if you wake up to the sight of things you really love, like pictures of your loved ones or a poster of your favorite band or movie. I like to personalize my space by adding family photos and posters of my favorite bands.  

5. Decorate your mirror with inspirational quotes on post-it notes.

By displaying a few of your favorite inspirational quotes on your mirror, you will feel more confident and actually look forward to looking into the mirror. This is a simple trick to train your mind to experience more happiness and success.

These few little changes can affect your mood in the long run and help you stay more focused. If you follow any of these tips, let us know by tagging us on Instagram or Twitter. Our username on both of these sites is @villehousing .

Events / Programs, Lifestyle / Hall Life

‘Donut’ Stress Event

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On October 24th, West Village A hosted an event called Donut Stress. During this event, students were able to express their sources of stress and learn more ways to deal and cope with it. Along with learning about stress, students were offered free donuts and coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts.

Throughout the semester, it is very common for students to feel stressed and overwhelmed. This event showed students that many other students are feeling the same way and that they are not alone. At this event, students were asked to write down what was stressing them on a sticky note and then post it on a paper that had a tip for reducing stress for the students to try.

Many of the causes of stress for Millersville students include classes, exams, sleep schedules , registration for next semester, relationships, tuition, and class readings. Many of these subjects are very stressful for every student who goes here , but there are ways to cope with these concerns. For example, the RA who designed this event displayed coping mechanisms on the sheet where students wrote what was stressing them. These techniques included communicating, going for a walk, utilizing counseling services, taking a long shower, spending time with friends or family and taking deep breaths. Other examples can also be watching  a movie, listening to music, doing something that makes you happy, exercising and talking to professors.

This was a great event to help students destress and enjoy a treat they deserve. RA events can be a great way for students to meet new friends and have a great and fun time. Make sure you look for similar or other events that are going on in your residence hall!

Announcements, Lifestyle / Hall Life

Fall Hall Events

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Millersville Housing & Residential Programs love to show their fall spirit. With Halloween right around the corner, we are right in the center of the fall season. With fall comes along pumpkins and Halloween festivities. Within our residence halls, students have been celebrating the season by attending events held by our Resident Assistants , better known as RAs.

RAs try to create programs to help students celebrate the season and also have fun while doing so. One of the events that was held to aid in doing so was the Pumpkin Painting Party that took place in West Village A , but was also open to the whole West Village. During this event , residents were able to come out with their friends to paint a pumpkin which they could display outside of their door for decoration. This residence hall is having a door decoration contest, so many students were eager to create a great pumpkin to add to their door display. A pumpkin painting party was a perfect event for students to talk and meet other students as well as to get into the holiday spirit.

One resident , Allie, said,  “It’s relaxing.”

Pashence said , ” This activity brought out my Halloween spirit! It’s the season to paint pumpkins.”

Other great events have been held in other halls as well. If you live in the residence halls and want to gear up for the spookiest day of the year, see if your RA has any event flyers posted on your floor or you can ask them if any events are going on.

Many of the residence halls are having a door decoration contest, so make sure to decorate your door for a chance to win a prize. Also if you live in East Village B, there will be a Halloween Party on October 28th at 7pm , be sure to check it out because there will be food, music and plenty of fun. In South Village, there will be Halloween crafts on October 30th and a scary movie night and costume party on November 3rd, so make sure to check out these activities as well.

Events / Programs, Lifestyle / Hall Life, Social Advocacy / Justice

Social Advocacy Living-Learning Community

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Located in West Village Suites on Millersville’s campus is the Social Advocacy Living- Learning Community, which engages 20 undergraduate students. A living-learning community, also known as an LLC, is a group of students who live together in the same residence hall and share similar academic or other interests. These communities are designed to encourage student engagement through designed co-curricular learning activities.

Each community is themed and groups students with similar majors or interests together to create an environment that helps students gain skill sets such as effective communication skills, and networking skills among many others. These communities offer these students a unique residential experience that can provide them with skills inside and outside of the classroom. Within these living-learning communities, students may take advantage of tutoring, guest speakers, cultural programs, career workshops, community service, and research projects.

The Social Advocacy  Living-Learning Community that we have here on campus was created for Anthropology, Psychology, Social Work, and Sociology majors. According to Dr. Karen Rice, Department Chairperson for the School of  Social Work and adviser for the Social Advocacy Living-Learning Community, this LLC is centered around social advocacy and empowers students to be aware of  cultural and social diversity within our society. Students who participate are passionate about advocacy, equity, social justice, and inclusion.

Dr. Karen Rice has provided some information about the program and activities her students have been participating in . She said, “Since our inception this fall, our students have engaged in team building exercises learning ways to communicate and enhance trust. They have explored their own identities and that of others and identified ways to foster change and build capacity. ”

She also touched on the specific activities her students are participating in. “Some of our students participated in the United Way Day of Caring.  Additionally, our students had the opportunity to learn, first-hand, from a Syrian refugee the challenges faced in obtaining employment and ways others are assisting in overcoming those hurdles. Our students participated in a cooking class led by one of the Syrian refugee women. This experience not only fostered compassion but allowed our students to explore their own assumptions by trying something new and hearing personal stories .”

Overall, this program is very important and is a great way for students to be able to build a positive community, and positive social change. To find more information about living-learning communities, check out our website .

Lifestyle / Hall Life, Lists

How to Have a ‘Suite’ Halloween

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Since it is officially October, spooky season has begun. Halloween is a great holiday that many college students like to celebrate, but do not know how to while living in the residence halls. Although it seems like there are no ways to celebrate this fun holiday, I created a list of some ideas you and your friends can try out.

 

  1. Host a movie marathon.

One way to get in the Halloween spirit is to host a scary movie or Halloween themed movie marathon. You and all your closest ‘ghouls’ can watch Halloweentown, Hocus Pocus or Halloween in your residence hall common area where there is a lot of room to sit and enjoy these classic films. My favorite Halloween movie is Hocus Pocus, I can recite the whole movie from beginning to end.

 

  1. Have a door decoration contest with people who live in your hall.

Another option can be to ask your RA if you can have a door decoration contest for Halloween. Decorating your door can be fun and a great way to bond with your roommate while trying to beat the competition. If you need some ideas for door decorations, you can always check our Pinterest out , our username is @villehousing !

 

  1. Plan a small Halloween party.

Ask your RA if your floor can have a Halloween party or ‘trick or treating’. Having a floor Halloween party can be a fun reason to get dressed up , but it can also help you to meet more people who live on your floor. This is also a great excuse to eat a bunch of Halloween Oreos and piles of candy.

Photo courtesy of Canva.

 

  1. Bake themed treats with your friends.

For example, you and your friends can make Halloween cut-out cookies or the always delicious Pillsbury sugar cookies in the residence hall kitchens. These kitchens are a great resource that students can take advantage of especially when it comes to baking yummy treats.

 

  1. Carve or decorate pumpkins.

When I hear the word Halloween, the first thing I think about is pumpkins. Decorating pumpkins is a great way to be creative while being festive. This can also be a fun activity to do with your friends or roommates to take your minds off of schoolwork and tests!

 

Have a spooky and fun-filled Halloween! Also, if you live in West Village make sure to check out the pumpkin painiting, costume contest, food and crafts as well as a Halloween movie night that is happening on October 25th starting at 6:30 pm.