My Experience in Mesa Court

Welcome to my home for three years! As an RA, I’ve had the unique experience of being able to live in Mesa Court as a first year, third year, and my last year. Each year’s experience has been different due to the unit-type of the building in distinct ways. Mesa Court is split into unit-types: Unit 1 - 5 (Classics) and the Towers. Here are my personal experiences with certain unit-types.

Year 1: I lived in a double my first year in Lluvia, a unit 4 “hillside” hall. Living in a double in the classic halls is the typical experience; I knew that I only wanted one roommate, so I really loved knowing that doubles were the most readily available room in classic Mesa. Pros: the doubles in the Unit 4 halls are HUGE. I’ve seen other double rooms at other universities, where people were practically stacked on top of each other, but my roommate and I had so much space! My closet and storage space were definitely huge as well - we had storage drawers built into our beds, big drawers in our desks, and plenty of closet space. Cons: our hall held about 90 residents, so it was sometimes difficult getting to know everyone and there wasn’t much study space besides the common room and the kitchen, which was pretty small to be shared between 90 people.

Year 3: I lived in a single as an RA, but I was the RA of a Unit 1 hall, the original Mesa Court dorms that have been around since the school’s inception in 1965. I personally think that the Unit 1 halls are THE BEST halls - in terms of history, space, and community. The Unit 1 halls have suite rooms that are shared between 6-8 residents - these suite rooms are the study rooms I wish I had in the larger, newer Unit 4 halls. Because everyone had their own suite rooms, residents had more space to study and hang out besides just the common spaces. Most of the rooms were doubles (I had one triple room and one single), and although the Unit 1 halls hold the least amount of residents out of any hall (only 54 residents in one big mansion!), we had the biggest kitchen/dining room. Definitely loved living in Viento!

Year 4: Again, I live in a single as an RA, but living in the Towers is completely different. In the Towers, you live on one single floor in one long hallway; each of the rooms is quad occupancy, meaning that all rooms have four people in them. Each floor has its own study room at the back of the hall, and tables and chairs outside of the rooms. The Towers, as the newest addition to Mesa Court, are always in high demand due to the shiny new architecture and the somewhat cheaper price tag due to the quad occupancy. You share a common room (that also has a full kitchen) with 136 other people! Being in the Towers definitely is a social setting, but if you prefer privacy, it might not be the best choice for you.

The residential halls have been the best living experience I’ve had; you really can’t beat the convenience of waking up and walking to campus in 5 minutes and living in a mansion with all of your best friends. I hope you love your housing experience as much as I have!

Mesa Love,

Joyce