My goal for this project was to understand the way the students at University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) feel about certain issues involving housing and food options. Through several interviews I was also able to meet some new people while learning a little more about what life as a UHM student looks like.
This afternoon I interviewed a sophomore from UHM named Shawn Marks (pictured below). Shawn is currently an engineering major looking to switch to something in sustainability. While this is Shawn's first year at UHM, he grew up in Maui, HI and transferred to UHM during the summer. His summer semester he stayed in the freshman towers which he described to me as "absolutely disgusting." He filled me in on some of the issues in the dorms, explaining how there is only one elevator that barely works. However, the main issue we discussed was regarding the housing office at UHM. Much like many of the students here, Shawn was waitlisted up until a month before he was supposed to move in. Which is a very inadequate amount of time to find a roommate, and sign a lease, if necessary. My roommate and I dealt with a similar situation, but unlike Shawn we never even made it off
the waitlist and had to find an apartment quickly before school began. Several students and parents would agree that the housing office at University of Hawaii is very flaky, and most of the time you don't know what your living situation will look like (even as a freshman or an exchange student). Shawn also gave me his opinion on the food provided at UHM, both in the dorms and at campus center. He said that while "some options were good", they don't have a lot of variety and they don't make the food to be ordered. By this he was saying that his old college in San Diego would have students order the food first before it's made, to decrease food waste. But as he mentioned was his concern, a lot of the food at UHM is probably just thrown out due to the excessive amounts of leftovers. This could be a problem that needs to be solved at UHM in the future.
The next set of interviews were taken with two exchange students from the mainland. Heather (pictured below on the right) is an industrial design major and Grace (pictured below on the left) is double majoring in Chemistry and French. They are both sophomores and had quite a bit to say regarding the housing here at UHM. While both currently live in Frear Hall, and have had fairly positive experiences living there, it was the housing process that made things very difficult for these two exchange students. Heather said, we were essentially "homeless, until about two weeks before we were suppose to move in." She said we would expect, as exchange students, that they would actually provide us housing. Especially because everything is already paid for. They told me this isn't just a problem they've dealt with, and that most of the exchange students they
know were waitlisted until a week before the move in day (very unsure of what to do). As for the people who didn't make it off the waitlist, they had to frantically search for apartments and some ended up having to "rent a long term AirBnB." Which, as you may know, AirBnB's can be quite costly, and apartments are not easy to find in a week. This reoccurring issue is definitely something that should be changed by the school, in order to keep students able to attend their University. After discussing the housing crisis at length with Heather and Grace, we also talked about the food at UHM. They mentioned that while they would rather eat down at Hale Aloha dining hall, (instead of Gateway, due to the more diverse options) the dorm food is just "not good." Heather said that if she could change one thing about the food here it would be to "add more options, and more flavor."
The last person I interviewed was a freshman Psychology major named Riley (picture not included). She told me a little bit about her reasons behind choosing Psychology. After mentioning how she was adopted and had been through a lot in her life, she thought that psychology would help her understand aspects of herself that she "didn't have the ability to understand before." After also talking to Riley about the housing and food situation here at UHM, I learned a few new things. She told me that while she didn't get into the dorms (due to how impacted the school is this year) she has a strong opinion about them because of her friends. She told me how she didn't get a housing offer until about three days before she moved to Hawaii, and by that point she had already signed onto an apartment lease. Riley wishes the housing office could get better with their communication so the students don't end up getting stuck with nowhere to live. This, as we have seen from the last few interviewees, is a huge issue at the University, and the question has to be asked, why isn't the school doing anything about it? Riley also explained to me her position on the dorm food, as well as the food at campus center. She stated that she "likes all the campus food, besides the dorms." Riley also added that, "Gateway and Hale Aloha are the only two places she would never eat." I had asked her what she would change about the food situation here at UHM, and her reply was, "I would lower the prices in the campus food court." While some places in the campus center are affordable, the food court does have fairly high prices.
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