Grace Melinda’s grey-blue eyes brighten up when she talks about starting her freshman year at St. Joseph’s College.
While Melinda, a freshman English major, was disappointed that she couldn’t bring her entire collection of books with her to college, she is looking forward to all the new literature she will discover at SJC Brooklyn.
“I’m most excited about being able to immerse myself in English,” said Melinda, who moved from her hometown near Buffalo to St. George’s Residence Hall in Brooklyn Heights on August 25.
The 17-year-old was among nearly 40 other incoming freshman who moved in to the off-campus residence hall last weekend.
Victoria Porcasi, a senior entering her third year as a residence assistant in St. George’s Hall, said she’s almost in disbelief about the large number freshmen dorming this year.
“Over the years, we’ve had so much growth coming in,” she said. “This year, I think, we have about 80 to 85 students living here now – which is really a lot compared to my first year when there was only about 20 to 25 students on just the 10th floor.
“And now we have the ninth floor, as well as the third floor. So there are a lot of students coming in,” she added.
Emily Soldani decorates her dorm room on move-in day.
Riley Griffiths, an RA entering her junior year, added that the incoming freshmen come from all over the country – as far away as Kentucky, Nevada and California.
Freshman Kelsey Legg said she and her family drove nearly 850 miles to move-in to SJC Brooklyn from her hometown in
Owensboro, Kentucky.
“It took us 14 hours, but we broke it up and made it a little road trip,” Legg said. “It was fun; it was definitely worth it.”
Legg placed picture frames in her dorm to remind her of her friends from back home, although she is looking forward to starting her new adventure in New York City.
“I applied to every school in New York that sounded like something I would be interested in,” Legg said. “And then I got accepted to St. Joe’s, and they offered me the Presidential Scholarship.”
Time To Move-In, Call Brooklyn Home
Roommates Isabelle Love and Emily Soldani – who just met for the first time on move-in day – quickly agreed on their favorite part of SJC Brooklyn: “Being in the city.”
“I just really like being in the city,” said Soldani, a business major minoring in fine arts.
“And I’m excited to start a career,” added Love, a nursing major.
Melinda, who also had her heart set on studying in the city, said she fell in love with St. Joseph’s College because of its small class sizes. 
“All of the schools that I visited in New York were really big and kind of intimidating,” she said. “I do better with personal accountability in my classes, so I struggled with accepting that I would be going to school with 30,000 to 50,000 other people and nobody would even know my name. I felt like it would be easier for me to integrate into the community here.”
Mikaela Speleotes, a freshman nursing major, is also looking forward to the small class sizes at SJC Brooklyn.
“I love the area it was in, I like the smaller class sizes and the school is beautiful, so I thought it was a good pick,” Mikaela said.
Some returning students joined the freshmen on move-in day. Daniel Dover, a sophomore business major – who noted that his number one dorm must-have is his Nike clothes and sneakers – had some advice to share with his new peers.
“Don’t try to plan out your life,” Dover said. “Just go with the flow. Everything happens for a reason.”
