Freshman Year: Chaos ensues

Student Lounge College Life
704

Ah dorm life. Back in the Stone Age we had an arsonist on my floor where I was the RA. First evacuation same as you…middle of the night. All of our professors understood the situation, and we were excused from any exams…actually…I think any were postponed.

Second time…same thing. Middle of the night. Again the professors were very understanding.

Third time…they actually didn’t believe me!

When I was RA, we had a master key that we used in emergencies like this to make sure everyone was out of the building. Is that no longer the case?

In any event…find time today to take a nap (or two). Catch up on your sleep.

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705

I don’t think they have a master key like that- once I was outside, my hallmates were telling me they were BANGING on my door in an attempt to wake me up- it doesn’t help that I sleep on my worse side habitually, but the DRC never put in the flashing light fire alarm that I have accommodations for. i was honestly kinda terrified because I didn’t know what was going on until I was outside. /sighing

i’m going to try, but with my chem exam on friday, i’m like… going to try to briefly nap at some point later today. also i have an 8am, a 9:15am, and then an hour in between before my 11:35am class so. we’ll see. /sighing

706

Please do follow up with housing and/or DRC so that this can be fixed. It can be a dangerous situation.

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707

I don’t think we ever had a fire - but we had fire alarms, it seemed like daily. It was horrible.

Once during the Sugar Ray Leonard Donny Lalonde boxing match. We hid in the closet for when the RAs came in - since we had paid and it was big at the time.

And yes, we got caught and had to leave the building.

It was so often -if it’s only the first time, you are lucky - but I don’t think my kids had it often so maybe it’s a more sane dorm life now than years ago.

It’s one of those things you’ll remember about college - it build character :slight_smile:

And yes, get that light fixed for sure.

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708

Sample of one: My kid had her first fire alarm in sophomore year. A lot less than when I was in college. OTOH she did have bomb threats during finals last year, something that never happened in my time.

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709

I didn’t even hear the alarm and the only flashing ones are in the hallway- something told me to wake up and I checked my phone, to find that a hallmate had worriedly texted me asking where I was and if I was okay. I have never bolted so fast out of my room while sleepy in my LIFE. I also can’t make sense of the fire alarm annoucements but I did manage to hear the loud beeps (ish) once I had woken up and thought it was a test, so I fell back asleep not long after- which apparently is when the banging happened by my hallmates so I could wake up. i don’t know how long i’d fallen asleep for, but I woke up and realized girls were evacuating (I didn’t know why) but ran out. all in all, -infinity/10, I want a refund for the lost sleep and maybe some candy. /sighing

710

My freshman year our dorm fire alarm went off almost every single night for weeks, around 1 am. It was so frequent that the bulk of the dorm started sleeping through the alarms (not good). The FD was convinced we had someone pulling the alarm but when they opened the fire box, they found a mouse nest and chewed up wires. They cleaned that out, rewired everything, and we were good the rest of the year but it was really disruptive.

Hopefully this was a one off for the OP and the flashing light alarm is installed ASAP.

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711

I’m a big proponent of college kids taking ownership of their interactions with college administration, but this is a circumstance where I suggest your parents get involved. This is life or death. You’ve been promised accommodations for SAFETY that have not been provided. Please, please address this asap. You have school work to concentrate on and shouldn’t have to take time away from studying so hopefully a trusted person can take on the followup with disability and facilities depts. :hugs:

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712

I guess I had a relatively good dorm life. I think I maybe only had about 2 fire alarms that I had to go out for. Then again, I avoided the dorms that had a reputation for rowdiness.
/Reminiscing

OP, I’m so sorry to hear about the fire alarms, but I am glad that your hallmates were thoughtful and trying to make sure you were safe.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get the college to address your safety accommodations ASAP. I would also cc a number of folks on that email: if you have an individual contact at the DRC, Building Services-Dorms (whoever is your Residential Building Supervisor), and in perusing NEU’s employee directory, these may be some additional folks to cc (supervisor for dorms building services, 2 folks in compliance (not academic research compliance), director of the DRC and the Assistive Technolgy/Accommodations person at DRC, the dorms facilities customer service contact, and the compliance specialist in the general counsel’s office. I suspect that at least one of these people will get a fire lit and help expedite this process.

Roffi, Kevin N/A k.roffi@northeastern.edu Building Services Supervisor Building Services-Dorms

Qin, Lin (617) 373-5211 l.qin@northeastern.edu Sr Dir - Compliance Compliance N/A N/A
Solomon, Gregory N/A g.solomon@northeastern.edu Compliance Specialist & Policy Manager Compliance N/A N/A
Almeida, Katey (617) 373-3558 k.almeida@northeastern.edu Assistive Technology & Accommodation Manager Disability Resource Center N/A N/A
Droz, Kyle (617) 373-5137 k.droz@northeastern.edu Dir - Disability Resource Center Disability Resource Center N/A N/A

Habib, Ahsan (617) 373-2754 a.habib@northeastern.edu Lead Facilities Customer Service Coordinator Facilities ResHall-Customer Service N/A N/A

Clark, Nicole (617) 373-6888 n.clark@northeastern.edu Compliance Operations Specialist Office of the General Counsel N/A N/A

It doesn’t need to be a nasty email, but it should express some urgency. Something like:

Last night there was a fire alarm in the middle of the night and I was unable to evacuate from my dorm in a timely manner because the flashing alarms have not yet been installed in my dorm room. I have these accommodations from X date that indicate that this type of alarm was to be in my room. Hallmates were banging on my door, but due to my disability, I was not able to hear them.

Although I realize that the beginning of the school year is a busy time for all parties, this is an urgent safety concern. When will Northeastern install the alarm (and any other safety stuff you have on your accommodations)?

Sincerely,

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE…get this addressed ASAP
/Urgently earnest and concerned

ETA: In thinking about your parents’ involvement as @DramaMama2021 mentioned, I’d cc them, too, so if they need to do follow-ups, they can do so more easily.

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713

So sorry about the fire and fire alarm. Until the school gets the alarm you need can you leave your door unlocked at night so a suitemate can come in and physically wake you if this happens again? Or give one of them your key at night and get it back in the morning? Or buy your own Alarm and have it sit on your dresser (assuming you don’t want to install it)?

Saying all this because fires do happen and what happens once could happen again. Especially if maybe someone is setting them intentionally (which I’m sure is rare but based on the post above apparently does happen).

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714

3 cheers for your friends who were watching out for you and checked on you during the fire alarm.

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715

Good suggestion.

Just brainstorming… are there remotely controlled bed shakers? My family member has one that works with an alarm clock, but if there is a type that can be activated remotely a trusted friend or the RA could keep the remote. :thinking:

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716

i’m incredibly grateful for them. One of them kept calling out for me when I rushed outside the building, and at least 2 tackle hugged me in relief. I love my hallmates. /grateful

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717

I do have a bed shaker alarm but it’s not activated yet because my phone alarm is directly next to me and i use that currently, but I can try to see if I can use that. /musing

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718

my dog (my retired service dog) has cancer-officially diagnosed today even though I suspected it already- and it’s not a fun time. cancer has wrecked my family and I’ve seen it time and time again. prayers are appreciated. they’ll probably have to remove his eye. can’t imagine life without him and i don’t know if the cancer will travel to his bloodstream or not. please keep us in your prayers. /sadly

719

So sorry. It’s the dilemma of loving our dogs. They are such wonderful companions, but they have a much shorter lifespan than ours, so we have to be resigned to losing them, usually after a little over a decade. Do you have a younger service dog, too, or is he your only dog currently?

720

I am currently looking for a prospect but depending on if my vision gets worse, I’ll end up getting a guide dog- if it (hopefully) doesn’t worsen for awhile, then a multipurpose service dog prospect should be found within a few years. It’s a process though, to find a good prospect. /sighing

721

Be aware that the loss of a beloved dog combined with college stress can be a trigger for depression. If you need help, seek it earlier rather later.

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722

noted! i’m definitely making sure to take care of myself though, and my dog is still alive and kicking for now, so. but I’ll stay aware of that, thanks for the advice :slight_smile: /warmly

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723

I’m so sorry. It’s very hard to lose a pet, but I can imagine that it’s even harder when it’s a service animal who has been your partner and reliable companion for so many years. I have a friend who got paired up with her seeing eye dog through a nonprofit organization in Michigan…will check with her this week to confirm the name of the organization. It’s about 6 weeks of in person, on site training with you & the dog. Cost is free of charge to individuals like yourself. I know that there is an application you have to submit. Will get more info and post here later this week. My friend has now traveled extensively with her guide dog, even on airplanes, to Disneyland, etc., etc. She wasn’t born blind, but lost her eyesight gradually over time.