On Friday, parents and students participated locally in a rite of passage that takes place tens of thousands of times across the country this time of year: moving their college students into student housing, hugging and kissing them goodbye, and leaving them to start the next chapter of their lives.<\/p>\n
What made Friday\u2019s move special was that it occurred on the Palatka campus of St. Johns River State College as students moved into a brand-new, three-story, 60,000-square-foot building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The building, which features 32 suites with kitchens and shared living areas, offers 128 private bedrooms and a range of amenities, including a fitness center, laundry facilities accessible via a mobile app, study rooms, recreation spaces and outdoor fields for student activities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Officials said the project, decades in the making, marks a significant milestone for the college, which was founded in 1957. This is the first time students at SJR State have had the option of living on campus since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
SJR State President Joe Pickens said the idea of student housing has been on his agenda since he became president nearly 17 years ago, driven in large part by the college\u2019s Florida School of the Arts program.<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginally, it was because there weren\u2019t a lot of housing options available, especially none that catered to students,\u201d Pickens said. \u201cBut the original motivation was to complement the Florida School of the Arts. We have a statewide recruitment obligation, and if we are going to do justice to the school and recruit statewide, we needed to provide a dedicated place for those students to reside.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The residence hall, which cost about $20 million, was made possible through a public-private partnership with the family of local business owners Breck and Kim Sloan, longtime supporters of the college.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the state colleges are prohibited from using state funds for housing, so we needed a private partner,\u201d Pickens said. \u201cThe college donated the land, and the Sloan family provided the funding, built the dorms and operates them. They did something for us that we could never do on our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pickens said the result is more than just a dormitory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was always Breck Sloan\u2019s goal to make it not just dorms but a state-of-the-art student housing complex,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think he\u2019s accomplished that.\u201d<\/p>\n
College officials said the residence hall, which is staffed 24\/7 by armed security, filled quickly before classes began. The dormitory is intended not only to provide convenience but also to give students a more traditional college experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For business student and softball player Gemma Fusco, who is from Naples, the difference is immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that we\u2019re on campus. It\u2019s very safe, and I feel a lot safer here than at my last apartment,\u201d Fusco said. \u201cI\u2019m with my whole team, so we\u2019re always together. We\u2019re starting to create good bonds, and I want to make lifetime friends here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nGemma Fusco, a St. Johns River State College business student and softball player, walks into a bedroom inside one of the new student housing suites on the Palatka campus.\u00a0(PETER WILLOTT\/Palatka Daily News)<\/p>\n
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Fusco, now in her third year at SJR State, said the proximity to athletic facilities makes it easier for players to focus on practice and performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur facilities are literally a few yards away,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can lift weights, hit in the cages at night. It\u2019s just a lot easier than driving back and forth every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dorm is also home to students from the Florida School of the Arts, which is part of SJR State and is currently operating out of a temporary facility during renovations.<\/p>\n
Lyle Lopez, a student from the Philippines, is a FloArts student and one of three resident advisers chosen to help manage the new dorm. For Lopez, who is completing a bachelor\u2019s degree in production design, the opening of campus housing is personal and symbolic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they started building the housing, I was really excited about it,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just that it cut my travel time, but it gave me an opportunity to impact other people, to encourage them to continue and focus on achieving their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nPictured is a communal space near an entrance of the new housing facility at the Palatka campus of St. Johns River State College. (PETER WILLOTT\/Palatka Daily News)<\/p>\n
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Lopez said the housing is already breaking down barriers between student-athletes and arts students, who once rarely crossed paths because of packed performance and practice schedules.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never really saw eye to eye before,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cNow we live together, support one another, and that divide can be corrected. Whether you\u2019re training for a show or a game, the effort and sacrifice are the same. This helps us understand each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a resident adviser, Lopez sees his role as part mentor, part peer and part organizer. He said advisers plan monthly programs such as game nights, movie screenings and campus activities to help students connect and combat homesickness.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomesickness is real,\u201d he said. \u201cOur job is to reach out to let others know you\u2019re not alone. We\u2019re all in this together. The housing is about more than just having a place to sleep. It\u2019s about building a community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopez, who also pastors a church in Crescent City, said the new residence hall embodies the vision of Pickens.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore, we could only dream of it,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cNow it\u2019s tangible, something we\u2019re actually in. It\u2019s a blessing, and I thank and praise God for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fusco said that while Palatka may not offer the nightlife of larger college towns, the new housing encourages students to create their own fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hang out in each other\u2019s rooms, watch movies together and go to church together,\u201d she said. \u201cSometimes we\u2019ll take a short trip out of town, but I kind of like how close-knit it is here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She added that the convenience is especially valuable for teammates without cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve got Walmart right down the road, everything we need right here,\u201d Fusco said.<\/p>\n
Lopez said the new residence hall marks another step in the growth of the college and its students. Having studied and performed internationally, he said he hopes to stay in Palatka after graduation, pursue a master\u2019s degree and eventually teach at FloArts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed with amazing opportunities, and now I want to give back,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing an RA helps me ease into that role as an educator, to guide and support others in unlocking their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Fusco, the next two years will be about softball, business classes and figuring out where her career path might lead. But she said she already knows what she would tell a high school athlete considering SJR State.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would definitely recommend coming here,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great place to get better, to grow and to be part of something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
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