By Bianca Dinkha
As the new Pilsen campus opens this fall, seniors Melody Ruat and Fernando Sevilla address the unique challenge of juggling life as both Dominican residents and daily commuters, offering a new perspective on this dual-campus experience.
Dominican has officially opened its new campus in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, featuring an entirely new set of residence halls.
However, this shift presents many changes for senior students who must spend their final year living there after previously living in the River Forest campus.
“A lot of people decided to come live on campus,” Ruat said. “There’s a large amount of incoming freshmen and transfers. There’s just not enough space in River Forest.”
Living in Pilsen offers numerous advantages including modern, spacious apartment-style residence halls. Each unit has five bedrooms, two bathrooms, and fully equipped kitchen appliances.
“We have a kitchen, we have bathrooms, and a microwave.” she said. “They’re also trying to get TVs and couches for all the apartments.”
Living with nine other suitemates, Ruat enjoys her time in Pilsen, where she thrives in the city environment and feels it enhances her focus.
“I love it [because] I’m actually more productive there.” she said. “But if you ever get bored, or tired of studying, there’s so many cafes and things to do in the area.”
While living in Pilsen might be enjoyable, commuting comes with its own set of difficulties.
“The apartments are nice, [but] it’s just inconvenient to go to the River Forest campus.” said Ruat. “Parking is also inconvenient. You have to find street parking, so good luck.”
“One thing I don’t like is the shuttle schedule,” she continued. “It only runs like twice a day.”
Sevilla shared a similar opinion on the shuttle services at Pilsen.
“The shuttle bus schedule could be better,” he said. “They offer very limited hours for going and coming back.”
Sevilla compared living in Pilsen versus living in River Forest, noting that although both campuses might have their similarities, they are significantly different.
“I would say there are a lot of similarities between the dorms here at Pilsen and the ones on campus because these are a lot like the suite dorms that are in Murray,” he said. “The only difference is that you almost feel disconnected from the school because you aren’t physically there.”
“Over at the River Forest campus, you have the classrooms, multiple buildings, the library, the dining hall, and all that, but here, it’s just your place,” he continued. “So dorming here feels more like your own house and you aren’t ‘dorming’ at Dominican.”
Despite the unfavorable shuttle schedule and long commute, Sevilla’s experience living in Pilsen has been generally positive.
“Student and resident life are good over here,” he said. “From what I have seen, the students who go here have gotten close to each other. I like dorming here.”
As Dominican tries to keep up with a growing student body, Ruat and Sevilla’s experiences highlight the need for improvements in shuttle services and campus connectivity.
Despite these problems, the new Pilsen campus offers modern living arrangements that many students are learning to appreciate as they balance life between the two campuses.
bdinkha@my.dom.edu
