As the 2022-2023 school year has begun and new students at Montclair State University experience and enjoy all there is to see on campus, problems are likely to arise.
Montclair State has been accommodating its students with fun activities, plenty of eateries and has specified the importance of becoming involved. But is this enough to keep all students satisfied?
Coming to Montclair State as a transfer student, Maximilian Anglum, a junior psychology major, shared how his first few weeks on campus are treating him.
“The people here are very friendly and the campus is a very welcoming environment,” Anglum said.
Maximilian Anglum has had issues with the campus wi-fi since coming to Montclair State.
Kyle Goldware | The Montclarion
However, this welcoming environment has problems that are troubling students after less than a month of living here.
“My part of the dorm building [in Stone Hall] has been struggling with our showers,” Anglum said. “There are only two showers that work for our part of the building and one is out of order. The other’s shower head is broken and it constantly floods the floor.”
The shower in Stone Hall that is out of service.
Kyle Goldware | The Montclarion
He’s also experiencing issues with the campus WiFi.
“The WiFi tends to go out once a week and at some spots on campus I am unable to connect at all,” Anglum said.
Kendrick Barrera, a junior transfer student and political science major, has been slowly adjusting to his different life on campus. He notices, like Anglum, the flaws on campus such as the WiFi, especially when it comes to gaming.
“If you’re going to encourage doing that, you should also make it accessible for others to do that too,” Barrera said. “I mean I’ve seen people experience where they couldn’t connect to the WiFi [until] two weeks in. How difficult can doing that be?”
Kendrick Barrera, a junior transfer student and political science major, discusses how he is adjusting to life at Montclair State.
Kyle Goldware | The Montclarion
Barrera also stated how stressful waiting for work orders can be.
“It’s like people fill out work orders and call IT and it’s like you have to berate them every single time to get one of the simplest answers there is,” Barerra said. “And also, what’s the point of having a LAN cable in here if it’s not even fixed? [I] filled out a work order, still haven’t heard a single thing about that.”
A campus with nonfunctioning WiFi can be one of the biggest threats for college students since they frequently use it to work on assignments for classes and other activities.
Besides technical problems or issues within the dorms, Barrera commented on what the campus education environment is like for him.
“I’m a political science major, and I see the building I have to take some of my classes at specifically for my major [Dickson Hall],” Barrera said. “I look at that building and I’m like, ‘This looks like it’s high school’, then you go to University [Hall], [Center for Computing and Information Science] or the [School of Communications and Media].”
Barrera said that he thinks this is because some programs are prioritized over others.
“I understand that certain career choices are going to make more money,” Barrera said. “But you’re going to discourage students from wanting to pursue what they’re doing based on the environment they’re in, too.”
Daniel Bartsevich, an undecided freshman explains how different Montclair State is from his high school.
“In my high school you only had to take one subject at a time, but here you have to take five or six,” Bartsevich said. “So it’s completely different, and I have to adjust to the schedule of my classes.”
Daniel Bartsevich is an undecided freshman at Montclair State.
Kyle Goldware | The Montclarion
Despite the issues these students have experienced at Montclair State, they also had some good things to say.
“Oh I mean this is a big upgrade,” Barrera said. “I went to a community college, so there’s a lot more resources here, it’s a lot more open, a lot more spacious.”
Some students have no complaints about their experience at Montclair State. Olamide Oladoyinbo Emmanuel, a junior transfer student and psychology major has had nothing but positive reviews for the university.
“I haven’t experienced any kind of issue whatsoever,” Emmanuel said. “It’s been a seamless transition into my university life. The people here are nice and helpful too.”
Olamide Oladoyinbo Emmanuel, a junior transfer student and psychology major, has enjoyed his time at Montclair State thus far.
Kyle Goldware | Sal DiMaggio
Like Barrera, Emmanuel noted many differences between his experience at Montclair State and his one at his former school.
“Back in [my former] college, it was a smaller setting compared to this,” Emmanuel said. “This is much more diverse and has a lot of students from different places, and the mode of interaction is always available for different students to meet up and meet new people.”
Based on his experiences so far, Emmanuel said he is having a great time.
“For me, it’s been a great journey so far and everything about Montclair [State] is enjoyable and worthwhile,” Emmanuel said.
