Hey everyone!
Well I definitely had a wonderful time at the SCO housing fair last weekend. It was great to finally meet some of my future classmates and be back in Memphis at SCO. Apparently we had the largest group to attend a housing fair to date - almost 70 of my classmates and 80 guests were in attendance.
Some of my classmates and I started our day early with the opportunity to attend a class with first year students. 'Ocular Physiology' with Dr. Taylor was a great preview of what's to come of our classroom experience at SCO. Although I do have to admit that it was nice to sit in a class and not have to worry about remembering what was being taught. I learned a little bit though :-).
After class, I was able to meet with a financial aid counselor to discuss my aid application and financial aid options. The financial aid office staff has been very helpful thus far in clearly explaining how loan process works and the best ways to keep our costs down. The staff is definitely a resource that I will be utilizing a lot in the coming years.
Later in the day, after touring some apartments with my parents, we went to the exhibit hall where different apartment representatives were set up (with lots of goodies) ready to answer our questions. There were representatives for apartments in Cordova to Mud Island and just about everywhere in between. It was convenient to hear what each place had to offer in a "one stop shop" type of setting. After that, we got to hear from a panel of several SCO student ambassadors about where they lived, their experience there, how much their rent is, if they have a roommate, when they signed their lease, etc. The Q&A session was extremely helpful. Following that, we all enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner to conclude Friday's activities. On Saturday, we were able to tour a few apartments located downtown and on Mud Island as a group, which was also very helpful.
I'd say that the housing fair definitely served me well. I had a chance to look at a couple apartments when I went for my interview back in September so, prior to the housing fair, I had an idea of where I wanted to live. However, after talking to many different apartment representatives and hearing from current students about where they live, I have a lot to think about. Decisions, decisions!
Feyisayo