A new student’s perspective:
One stop convenience

During my first few days at Rider I was one of those confused, lost freshmen. I was the one who spent a long time in the dining hall deciding what was best to eat and the one who swiped my card the wrong way. The time that I wasn’t spending making a fool of myself, I spent in about 30 welcome sessions. Between welcome speeches and ice breakers, we were told about a magical place that would take care of all our needs: The One Stop.

The One Stop was supposedly designed to help new students get everything they needed done at the same time and place including taking or dropping courses, getting a car registered and going to financial aid.

Because having a car on campus is free, I decided to take full advantage of it. So, all I needed from the One Stop was to get my car registered. The One Stop was located on the top floor of the Bart Luedeke Center. However, there were no signs on the outside of the building that would actually guide a new student.

Your One Stop experience starts at the top of the stairs where a lot of fast-talking people sitting behind desks try to guide you to where you have to be. It’s really important to realize how fast these people spoke. I’m from northern New Jersey and I’m well- traveled. I’ve been to more than 40 states, and I know how people in different states speak. And for the most part, it’s slow. When I travel, most people don’t immediately recognize the fact that I have an accent. That’s why I was surprised to find that I had a hard time understanding what these One Stoppers were saying.

Although this is considered efficient in places like the motor vehicle, it seemed kind of out of place in the friendly atmosphere of Rider. My roommate and I were the only people needing any help, and there wasn’t any sight of a big influx after us. We split up; two bewildered students on a mission to get everything done. She went to the financial aid office and I went to get my car registered. I filled out a form and got the stickers for my car quickly and with no trouble. My roommate had the same experience.

So is the One Stop a good or bad idea? The idea of the One Stop is great. However, the execution seemed a little sloppy. The people who worked the One Stop seemed ready for a day with a constant stream of students. Next year, serve a little less coffee before sending these people to work.

—Nadine Tester