Daniel Mármol
1/5
I was sent here to USF St. Petersburg because when I applied for USF Tampa, they stated it was “at full capacity,” something that no university should do. Sending students to completely different campuses is absolutely unacceptable. I could have still been accepted to USF Tampa and have gotten an apartment off campus since on campus housing was full, but USF decided to make it more inconvenient for me and located me to USFSP. But this is only looking at the surface of how awful USF is.
Ironically enough, housing is the major issue about this campus. I was boarded in Residence Hall One (RHO) for both my fall and spring semesters, and it is the absolute worst place for any college student to be housed in. Both the washing and drying machines on all the floors that they are located do not work at all, PERIOD. The card reader for these machines will constantly read “Sorry, temporarily unavailable —— Out of Order” every time you try to use them, no matter the time of day. Because of this, I had to walk across campus to Osprey Suites (the newest housing complex on campus) just to get my laundry done, because RHO’s machines never work. In addition, RHO is not a very clean and well maintained facility, as I have encountered flies, trash, dust, and hair in the hallways multiple times over. The dorm rooms themselves need some improvements, as I have been housed in a room with broken blinds, chipped floorboards, and minor bug problems.
A second problem I had with housing was roommate matching. I did not put any requests on the online application that I wanted to be housed with UMatter students, or any other group of student communities on campus, and yet I was housed with two UMatter students. For those who are unaware, UMatter is a program at USFSP that helps people with intellectual disabilities become further engaged in college life and education. I quickly had a lot of issues with these roommates, and their inability to respect the boundaries of others (cleaning up after themselves, taking trash out, noise levels, inviting other people into our dorm room without my consent or awareness, etc.) They also had a history of saying racial slurs and sexist comments, which they were never reprimanded for simply because they had intellectual disabilities. This is unforgivable and only goes to show how awful USF is as an institution. I was told by the Residence Life Coordinator, Ashley Ramirez, that they would need some more help with me reminding them to do simple things such as those, and that they were being in touch with specialists on campus to help them out, but I had to focus on my own academics since I was concerned I was not doing well. I had no reason to be housed with them, and it made my entire fall semester so awful that I had to get a different room on another floor. This kind of inaction by USFSP Housing is inexcusable, and I cannot put into enough words how unfair it was for me, considering I had to look after my own health and well-being.
The classrooms, however, are nice, since they appear to have been recently renovated. The interiors of the classrooms are modern and well lit, and provide for a good place to study. Lynn-Pippenger Hall, which houses the Kate Tiedemann College of Business, is a decent building that offers a lot of amenities for its size, and the classrooms are also good. I had very positive relations with my professors here on this campus, and they are nice and supportive.
Overall however, I had an awful experience the time I was here. This is by no means an ideal institution for students who seek to improve themselves and become better individuals, both socially and academically. I genuinely had faith that I could still make the most of my time here, and that things would be alright (because I did not want to come to USFSP,) but that never occurred. I understand my opinion is somewhat biased considering that I did not want to be located here, but my time spent there was time I wish I could get back. Do NOT come here unless you want to throw your life away for good.
