1. Weekends: Flagler advocates building a community and keeping students from going home on the weekends, but there are a couple things that contradict this. The weekend hours of all campus buildings are greatly reduced. If you want to go to the library on the weekend, it better be before 5pm. Bug’s Bistro (the only on campus alternative to the dining hall) also closes early. The weekends can be fun on campus, when there are events going on or nearby in downtown, but make sure to plan accordingly and avoid relying on campus facilities and meals. Dining hall cuts back to two meals per day on the weekends, and aside from the waffle bar, the food is worse than usual, with less to choose from.
2. Going to the dining hall half dressed: Though it is acceptable to roll out of bed and stumble downstairs for breakfast or lunch, you might want to think twice before you do. Flagler, previously having been a famous hotel, is a tourist attraction and is constantly on display. A lot of the time there is no problem, but during tourist season, there is the possibility that you will be photographed in the dining hall, or at least observed by nosy tourists, not to mention prospective students, so think about this before stumbling down for mealtime.
3. Lincolnville and West King: The outskirts of these areas are fine, and during the day, walking through is not so bad, but be careful in these areas after dark. Lincolnville is labeled on the street signs, but you will be able to tell the difference when the nice houses turn run down and there are quite a few abandoned looking places. There are some parts that are better than others, but overall it’s a place to avoid alone at night. West King is the side of King Street that is literally on the other side of the train tracks. When you cross US1 on King Street, you might want to be careful and make sure you are not alone, especially on foot.
4. Parking in the dirt lot behind Lewis dorm: There are decent parking spots behind the Lewis dorm building, but not in the overflow dirt parking lot. Saint Augustine has an outdated drainage system and that is highlighted in this parking lot after a downpour. If this is where your car is parked, you better be wearing mud boots, and be ready to maneuver your car through the mud. In addition to that, if you are parked here it is at your own risk; meaning you are more likely to end up with used condoms, trash or dents on your car. It’s best to stick with paved ground.
5. Campus Internet on the mornings of registration week: Registration is done by grade level; each year gets a day starting with the seniors. The day starts at 7:30 and this is when that entire grade level logs on to the Internet to sign up for the next semester’s classes. Don’t plan on being on the internet at this time; you’ll be lucky if you can get on at all, and if you do it will be a miracle if you can load anything. When it is your day to go on, unless you are trying to get into an extremely popular class or one with very few spots, wait until later in the day to sign up. You can generally get all the classes you want even if you wait, but you won’t have to deal with the frustratingly slow connection. This process takes about 5 minutes, but if you try to do it first thing, it will take you about 30.
Cara Fontaine is a recent graduate of Flagler College who studied English and Business with a concentration in creative writing.