This LTE was written in response to The Student Experience at Messina College.
Dear Boston College Students,
Recently I became aware of an article that my former peer posted about the life of a Messina student. Although my peer brought up some good points, she neglected to acknowledge the other side of the Messina experience. Therefore today I write this letter to shed light on that neglected side.
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the fact that in no way am I downgrading my peers’ experience but rather I am writing this letter to speak about my experiences and my point of view. Being a Messina student we had to take classes in the summer during July and August when the weather was the hottest and most humid. Before we came to Messina, we were made aware of the fact that we would not be getting ACs and should bring our fans to make the heat more bearable. As far as I know, this is the same with the Freshman dorms on the Chestnut Hill campus where they don’t get access to AC. Although we did not have access to ACs, the administration team did their best to help us, even providing those who didn’t have fans with one. My friend didn’t have a fan and when he filled out the form to get one it was very efficiently handled, receiving it within the same day. Another thing I would like to mention here is that the staff members always listened to and even sought out problems that we had so they could be solved as quickly as possible. The staff was always welcoming, listening, and providing a place where you could talk about whatever was bothering you.
Secondly, I wanted to bring up the financial literacy class and the impact it had on the students. For financial literacy, we meet once a month for an hour where we are given insights that my peers and I found very helpful. A lot of people that I know were able to learn from the financial literacy class and implant it in their own lives to make a positive financial impact for themselves. Another thing I would like to bring up is that nowhere in any of the financial literacy or mentorship meetings did anyone belittle or remind me of my low-income background. I found that instead I was empowered and pushed to think about topics like generational wealth, which I previously thought would never be achievable. The impact financial literacy had on me and my peers were so evident that even people from the Chestnut Hill campus were intrigued and wanted to be able to take the class even if it wasn’t credited.
Thirdly, I would like to agree with my peers that the weekly mentorship meeting we had was of no use to some of us. I felt no need for the mentorship meeting as I found I had no use for the space provided during it to share and connect with others. But this does not mean that it wasn’t helpful for some people. One person in my mentoring group opened up to me when we were doing pair work, allowing him to get some serious stuff off his chest. His opening up allowed me to also open up and as a result of that we created a strong bond where we can go to each other if we need to talk about anything. This is an example of what Messina is, it’s a tight-knit community where you are close to everyone. Everyone here is welcoming to each other, to the point where you can’t go 1 minute without being stopped by someone to talk. Everyone here from the students to the support team members, along with the faculty/staff, are so genuine to the point where you can find yourself in hour-long conversations.
Most importantly, I would also like to talk about how great the support staff at Messina is. Whether it’s Geneive with her enthusiastic energy or Mario with his innocent smile brightening your day, the support team always makes sure that after talking to them you leave with a smile and feeling better than when you saw them. The connections between the support team and students are so close that they can sense when you are not feeling well and offer you support and console you until you feel better.
In addition, a friend of mine told me how she walked into Ashby and Geneive sensed that she wasn’t feeling well. After sensing that, Geneive stayed with her, offering her emotional support until she felt better. There are many more instances like this where, my friends and I included, have been feeling down, Mario and Geneive were able to sense our uneasiness and tried their hardest to uplift us. I have a personal memory from when I was sitting by myself in Ashby after experiencing emotional turmoil. I was approached by Mario, who extended a helping hand, staying with me until I became emotionally stable.
Another friend of mine shared a story from the summer semester, where she had Mario as a discussion leader for her First-Year Discovery Seminar class. The First-Year Discovery Seminar discussion group was an amazing space where we fostered connections, learned more about ourselves, and were encouraged to step out of our comfort zones. In these discussion groups, we also had one-on-one meetings with our discussion leader. In one such meeting, my friend, along with Mario, made a mock schedule of her regular day. After noticing there was a lack of time to eat on her schedule, Mario checked in with her, questioning her eating habits while giving her access to resources to use. Mario did what any caring person would do, showcasing empathy and compassion. He not only noticed that there was something going on, but also took action to help my friend find the help she needed.
Although there are many good things about being a Messina student, the bus situation is a problem that needs to be resolved. The bus comes every 40 or so minutes (if you’re lucky). Though the bus drivers are friendly for the most part, there is one particular bus driver who constantly skips stops. This causes the wait time to increase to a point where you can be waiting for hours sometimes. Because of this problem, many Messina students have to rely on Eagle Escort or Uber for transport. Earlier in the year when the Student Involvement Fair took place, a majority of the students ended up missing their classes because of the unreliability of the shuttle transportation. The location of the shuttle on Transloc is often unavailable, adding to the uncertainty of the shuttle timing. This can cause students to feel more disconnected and isolated from the Chestnut Hill campus.
Finally, I would like to end this by talking about how Messina College provides such a great opportunity for its students. While my peer brings up a great point about UMASS schools becoming free, Messina provides that same level of aid, if not better. Messina provides a great opportunity to complete your bachelor’s at Boston College, with the only requirement of maintaining a 3.4 GPA. We have access to the same resources and facilities as any other BC students. We can participate in any clubs, organizations, and activities, all without anyone discriminating against us for being Messina students. A mass majority of my peers, including me, take advantage of those opportunities, participating in multiple different academic and social events. To highlight how big of an opportunity Messina is, many of my friends have stated that they wouldn’t have attended college if Messina didn’t exist.
Best regards,
Anonymous Messina Student
