Hey Carolina Housing! My name is Haedyn Mills! I am one of the Spring 2025 Marketing Interns and a sophomore here at UNC. As my time on the Carolina Housing team is coming to an end, I wanted to share why I have chosen to live on campus all four years here at Carolina.
Here’s a little bit of background on my on-campus living experiences and how these have influenced my decision to stay on campus.
My Time in Hinton James Residence Hall
I participated in a program called Carolina Global Launch where I spent my first semester abroad at the University of Stirling in Scotland! This was an amazing experience where I got to explore the world around me, but I was really nervous about coming back to Carolina halfway through the year.
I always knew that I had wanted to come to UNC and was excited about living in a building with all freshmen. In one of my journals in middle school, I had drawn out the floor plan of the rooms based on one of the South Campus residence halls here and had decorated it on the page how I wanted it. So, when it came to figuring out where I wanted to stay, I knew I wanted to live on South Campus. My housing application process was very different from most students’ here at UNC as I had to do it halfway through the year, but I ended up exactly where I wanted to be!
When I got to UNC me and one of the other girls in my study abroad cohort were able to be suitemates, and I got matched randomly with my roommate. We immediately clicked and became extremely close friends and my friend from study abroad and I were able to bring in my new roommate to our friend group.
My time in Hinton James was one of exciting experiences, adventures and side quests. I 100% recommend living in Hinton James as a freshman because you are so close to so many other people who want to make friends with you and who are in the same stage of life here in Carolina that you are.
My Time in Teague Residence Hall
I am currently living in Teague Residence Hall which is located Mid Campus near the
Kenan Football Stadium. As a sophomore, this is the perfect location for campus because it’s near everything.
I knew I wanted to live in this area of campus, and my friends and I ended up all getting placed here but spread out throughout the building. As someone who had experienced having a random roommate before, I was not worried about this in the slightest! My current roommate and I are very close friends so I knew I would be able to make a new friend with my random roommate and still have a solid support system.
My favorite part of living in this area is that I am close to all of the sports games. As a big sports fan and Carolina Fever point collector, this has been the perfect space. I can walk out to my “backyard” which is essentially Dorrance Soccer Field and collect the points. With living so close and getting points I was able to be in the top 200 people in the school who went to the most sporting events and was able to be second row at the Duke v. UNC basketball game.
My time living here has been full of so many fun sporting events and memories with my friends. This side of campus means I am only ever a short walk from just about everything, and it is in between both of the gyms and dining halls.
My Future in Rams Village Apartments
Next year I am so excited to be living with my friends, one of which was my random roommate freshman year in one of the Rams Village Apartments. We are all looking forward to the location right next to the Dean Smith Center for attending basketball games, and of course the unique lifestyle living in an on-campus apartment will provide.
My roommates and I plan on renewing our rooms for our senior year too because we love living on campus.
I also feel like you don’t need this because freshmen are required to live on campus. Living on campus allows you to get involved and go to events like sports games and club meetings without driving or walking far distances. For a lot of people, undergrad is the only time they will have the opportunity to live on campus.
I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to live on campus and enjoy your time here. College is usually only four years of your life. Why not spend it with the Carolina Housing community; it has truly felt like family! Go Heels!