By Raena Doty
Arts & Features Editor
Sonia Luzon, a freshman health and wellness major, was an active student during high school - for starters, she was homecoming queen, a cheerleader, and on her cross-country team.
Now that she lives at Framingham State, she proudly displays medals and awards on her dorm room wall from her time in high school to remind her of her life before college.
She said participation has been more difficult during college, and while she’s interested in potentially joining the student government, she’s already kept busy by her time at FSU spent cheerleading and on the dance team.
Luzon said she chose to have a single room because she wanted privacy and control over her space.
“Something has to be the way I leave it,” she said, and added she keeps her room very clean most of the time, and having a space to herself makes it easier to focus on her schoolwork.
Luzon said there’s not really much she thinks is missing from campus, though she wishes her dorm room had a closet more like the closets in Larned Hall that are taller and have shelf space.
She said food from the Dining Commons is “not bad” and “UCook is the best.” She added she likes to make a “Chinese pasta” dish using macaroni noodles, chicken, broccoli, carrots, and teriyaki sauce.
She added the Dining Commons has been a great place for her to make friends, and said a few days ago she ended up chatting with someone about the dessert offerings and has been messaging them on Snapchat every day since.
Luzon also added she’s good friends with everyone who lives on her floor.
She said the floor has only female residents, and sometimes it can be frustrating that they can’t use the men’s bathroom on the floor even though there are no men.
She added one of the challenges of living on campus has been finding times to shower, but learning the habits of the people who live in her hall with her has helped make it easier.
For prospective students living on campus, Luzon said she thinks it’s important to “go to class. Do not skip, because once you skip, you’re going to keep skipping.
“And stay on top of your work,” she added. “Don’t be the type of student, when the teacher assigns it, to be like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna do it later.’ You’re really not gonna do it.”
Luzon said her favorite thing about living on campus is the close accessibility of her dorm.
“It’s right there, so I never miss class. I can just take a nap, wake up for my next class, and then go,” she said.
Her room itself is decorated in very “calm” colors like white, gray, and cream, she said, and added she hasn’t decorated much but hopes to decorate more in the future.
On her bed is a bright pink blanket, one she’s had since she was a baby, she said.
“My mom gave it to me when I was little,” she added. “I can’t really sleep without it.”