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A 30-minute commute may seem like an eternity for some, so when you throw in traffic, gas and parking, many students decide to live on campus during all four years of undergraduate study.
To accommodate students, Honors Apartments were a new option for juniors and seniors with a 3.0 or higher GPA after a year of housing shortage on campus kept some students from being able to live at Pepperdine.
However, 48 students chosen to live in Honors Housing have been living in the Oakwood Apartments in Woodland Hills after construction delays kept them from their on-campus home. As work is being wrapped up at the new campus, students began moving into their new on-campus homes from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18.
“When I walked in, it still smelled like paint,” junior Melissa Croft said lightheartedly. “Some of the doors still don’t have hinges and there are no doorknobs yet, so there’s still work to be done.”
These students were in the last group of those chosen for honors housing through the lottery drawing that took place in March. Their eligibility was confirmed in April, but students were warned they would not be able to move in until mid-semester.
Throughout the summer, about 15 of these students cancelled their spot in honors housing, mainly because they didn’t want to suffer a move halfway through October.
Croft was one who stayed in Oakwood, and she is glad she did, even though her process at Oakwood proved to be a bit rough at times.
“I was so excited to finally be moved in,” Croft said.
Croft does not have a car, leaving her only means of transportation the shuttle that ran to and from campus every two hours on the weekdays. She said she felt stranded on the weekends.
Junior Becky Bauer was lucky enough to have her car with her during the experience. However, the traffic through the canyon created a few problems.
“Traffic in the morning and evening was pretty bad,” Bauer said. “If you left at 7:10 a.m., you’d get to school in 30 minutes, but if you left at 7:15 a.m., it’d take you 45.” Pepperdine administration tried to make this adjustment as easy as possible for students.
“Pepperdine definitely helped out,” Bauer said. “Considering the situation, they made it as painless as possible.”
Oakwood’s facilities included a pool area and came furnished for students.
Students saved about $1100 a month living at Oakwood, without taking into account the money for utility bills. But they also were living with a roommate, versus the single room they were looking forward to in the Honors Apartments. Students also received 250 Pepperdine Waves points.
Submitted October 23, 2003
MALIBU, CA
