As winter break approaches, students living on campus are required to pay a fee to stay on campus or vacate it.
Meghan Luzader, the director of resident life, said on-campus housing aims to provide students with a safe, stable place to stay during breaks.
“[Students] can come and go as [they] please, as a part of our winter break housing group,” Luzader said. “It gives that additional flexibility, which is really helpful, regardless of the circumstance for students, and it also doesn’t necessitate them putting themselves in a situation.”
For some students who choose to stay on campus over winter break, the reason may be insecurity about safety or finances at home.
Randolph Brooks, the assistant director for outreach at the Counseling Center, said while breaks from classes are meant to be used for rest, for some students, the thought of going home can cause anxiety.
“For some students, home isn’t a safe place. So that is probably the most difficult transition,” Brooks said. “There is the assumption that [students] can go home and work, or go home and rest or go home and be around family and friends. But for some students, home is not a safe place because they came to college to escape home. And so, for those students, the thought of going home is terrifying.”
Brooks said the thought of having to leave the comfort and safety of their on-campus residence can worsen mental health issues for some students.
“There is definitely the possibility of fear, of sadness, depression, anxiety, of just thinking that ‘I came from a space that was relatively stable to a space of instability’ is terrifying, not knowing what available options [students] may have when it comes to local resources at home,” Brooks said.
Students may face issues with family dynamics at their off-campus residences, Brooks said.
“And so again, anxiety about the future, the lack of control, some level of oppression, thinking about what [students have] lost. And for some, it’s definitely an exacerbation to self-concerns that they may already have,” Brooks said.
Luzader said, while the University has vital operations like university police and counseling, students who choose to stay on campus should be aware that university operations are not at full capacity, which may cause a feeling of isolation.
“When you are accustomed and have gotten used to the vibrancy of campus and being around people all the time,” Luzader said. “And when you normally have six to 800 people in your hall, and you’re one of only a handful, that can add to the stress and add to the isolation feeling.”
Katrina Pawvluk, the director for administration and occupancy management, said while having safe housing over break can be a weight off of students’ shoulders, a feeling of loneliness can be common.
“I think it can be lonely, especially if you’re the only one in a building and you’re not seeing anyone else. And I think there is also a little bit of stress because it’s outside our contract dates,” Pawvluk said. “We do have to do that additional charge, and we’re not trying to make money on this deal by any means.”
There is a $15 a night charge for students who decide to stay on campus, which is billed directly to students’ accounts for the Spring semester. Pawvluk said students feeling insecure about this charge have options available to help pay it.
“It is a $15 a day charge at a flat rate, so it is cheap, but it probably barely covers us having RAs on campus, if it even does that. ‘But how am I going to pay for that if I’m already housing insecure,” Pawvluk said.“That’s where Pack Essentials really is a great partner in helping students who might need the financial support to be here because they don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Brooks said students shouldn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed for reaching out to places like Pack Essentials or Outreach to ask for financial and housing assistance or counseling.
“The stigma of asking for help is just that ‘I shouldn’t need help’ or ‘I don’t want other people to know that I need help’, even though we have students, faculty and staff making use of the food pantry,” Brooks said. “We definitely know that there are many students who don’t know what resources are available to them. For many students the thought of staying on campus over winter break was never something they considered. For other students, they may know that there is an available resource, but they may not know how to access it.”
Luzader said the first step for students experiencing housing insecurity is reaching out and asking for help.
“We have the options. We have folks who can help answer questions and point [students] in the right direction,” Luzader said. “We just need the student taking the first step of reaching out to somebody in housing, coming in, stopping by, calling into our office, sending an email or going to one of our team members in the communities. There are a lot of us, and we are all committed to doing what we can to help support our students every day of the year, including over winter break.”
Brooks said students who may be afraid to return home or are experiencing mental health issues due to the fear of returning home should remember that their story is not over and there are resources available for them.
“For students, it’s important to remember that your resilience, grit, growth mindset, all these terms that are designed around the notion that you can come back from whatever it is that you are experiencing,” Brooks said. “And while all of that is true, it’s also important to remember that your journey through life is never a straight line. There will be some curves. There will be some bumps. There will be some hurdles. And you will get to your boat. As long as you stay engaged, you will get to your boat.”
For students concerned about housing or who may be experiencing mental health issues, resources are available to them via Prevention Services, Pack Essentials and NC State Cares.
