Guests: Amy Korstange, Nana Adu, and Kera Reynolds
Estimated reading time: 22 minutes
Robin Lee: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Honors Spotlight Podcast. I’m your host, Robin Lee, and today we’re covering one of the most unique living experiences at Middle Tennessee State University- Lyon Hall, home to the Honors Living and Learning Community. We’re joined by three wonderful guests, Amy Korstange, Nana Adu, and Kera Reynolds. Amy is the Associate Director of Residence Life. Nana is the area coordinator for Lyon Hall, and Kera is an Honors alumna who has previously lived in Lyon Hall. Together, we’ll explore what makes Lyon Hall special, answer student questions, and share advice for those considering living on campus. So, let’s start off with what makes Lyon Hall unique. It is one of the first living and learning communities at MTSU. It’s known for being quieter than the other halls, with study lounges on each floor, and it’s often considered the place to be if you’re an Honors student living on campus. So, Amy, can you kick us off by explaining what sets Lyon Hall apart from other residence halls?
Amy Korstange: Absolutely. Lyon is an old building. It has been renovated in the last twenty years. And it doesn’t look it, doesn’t feel old. It doesn’t look old. Except from the outside where it’s got pretty columns. Unique to Lyon is a really pretty skylit space and center staircase. It makes you feel more like you’re entering a hotel lobby than a residence hall lobby, and I think students really like that. One of the things you mentioned is correct. It’s quieter. And a lot of folks really like to live in Lyon. For that reason, we get more upperclassmen coming back to Lyon. We get students who are excited to live in a space where they can really focus on their academics, even if they’re not our students. The word has gotten out that it is quieter because there are Honors students there who are learning and studying quietly, and someone who just really likes to learn and study quietly will often choose to live in Lyon.
Nana, what do you notice about the community culture in Lyon Hall compared to other halls?
Nana Adu: So, there’s this vibe that I think I’ve come to call it the Honors vibe. You know, like when you see some resident halls, they’re, like, extremely quiet and academic. And then others too, are like, very lively and social. Lyon kind of draws between the two. So, the place is quiet and very academic at the same time. We have lively residents who are like, very social and willing to bond all the time. So, it’s like a family there. And yeah, that’s the vibe I call the Honors vibe. And then, another thing that I want to add is the residents’ involvement. So, we have a lot of general involvement and engagement in the hall. You might like a resident hall that belongs to the Honors Society. Honestly, it’s very quiet in there. But no, we have, like, residents coming together to help their RA decorate the hallways all the time. We have residents talking in the lobby, discussing, sharing ideas, holding study groups together, and all that. And I feel like that’s very key. A key element for resident halls and for LLCs in general. So, over the months we have residents helping their RA plan events together. Whether it’s like donating their game consoles to, like, have a game night together or like coming together to play games and then also like holding study groups and all that. And I feel like that’s a very unique experience in Lyon.
Robin Lee: It sounds like a really fun and comfortable place to be. That’s exciting.
Kera, as someone who’s lived there, what was your personal experience like?
Kera Reynolds: Yeah. First, I want to thank you at the Honors College for all that you do and the impact that you have on the students every day, whether it be here or at Lyon Hall. I lived at Lyon during the 2020-2021 school year, which was during the tail end of COVID and despite it being COVID, I think I had a very pleasant experience overall living there, even though I only lived there for one semester. They hosted different activities, such as I remember there was like an Honors bonfire, and that was where I first felt connected with the Honors College and with housing besides, like virtual activities. I met so many friends during that bonfire night, and I met a lot of friends, like in the hall. Despite, like the social distancing and wearing the mask, I remember me and my roommate at the time, we would host movie nights and we would also go to other people’s rooms and they would be hosting like game nights and stuff. And Lyon was also where my housing journey began. I was a desk assistant for the semester, and it felt more than just a job to me. I was able to build community with the residents who came in. Because most people, like, they just get, like, they’ll just give a key. They’ll give, like, a key out or somebody to a resident. But to me, I love learning to get to know the students who come in and like, how their day is going. And then, like, what’s something I can do to just brighten their day. And the resident assistants over therewere also incredible. I was going through a lot of personal situations. However, they were able to help talk with me, and that inspired me to become a resident assistant because of the impact they have made on me. And then after, being a resident assistant, I eventually became a resident director of Lyon, during the 2024-2025 school year and things have changed a little. Like when I was a student, they didn’t have the Difference Makers lounge, but now we have a Difference Makers lounge for the Tennessee Teach Back initiatives, and I assisted with anything that they needed.
Robin Lee: That is awesome. Thank you for sharing that with us. So, we listened to what our community was saying. And beginning this year, Lyon Hall has started reserving ten spaces specifically for Honors students. This is primarily because Honors Buchanan Fellows have until May first to commit to the fellowship, and we have actually had students turn down the fellowship because there is no housing available on campus at that time, and I really hate that. So, this is an amazing fellowship opportunity that covers tuition, provides additional funding for other things like study abroad. Not having a place to stay on campus shouldn’t be the deciding factor in where you get your education. So, I love that this opportunity has become available to our students.
Amy, will you tell us a little bit more about this new endeavor?
Amy Korstange: Absolutely. So, like you said, there’ll be 10 spaces set aside, which means that as of May 1st, we will get a list from the Honors College of folks that are interested in those spots. It will be for Honors students in particular, and we’re going to hold them out so that Lyon doesn’t get full before May 1st. Come May 15th, we will have to release those rooms back to the general population because we usually have a wait list by then. If we don’t have a wait list, we won’t have to, but we will probably have a wait list, and then we’ll have to release it back so that somebody that’s on the wait list can get a space on campus. That’s just fair. And, you know, we want everyone who wants to live on campus, to live on campus, but we also want the Buchanan fellows to have the opportunity to live in the Honors living learning community, because they are only going to make our community better, and a population of folks that we really do want to have an opportunity to live with us. Yeah, absolutely. So, for students listening, the housing application is available at MTSU housing. But here’s another common question seen recently on Reddit. Do I submit a housing form if I’m not committed to MTSU yet? When I talk with incoming students, students who are still making decisions about where they’re going to go, prospective students, their families, what I tell them is apply to live on campus. As soon as you decide that MTSU is where you want to go to school. So, we will fill up. We will have a waitlist, and we again want everybody that wants to live with us, to be able to live with us. So, the earlier you get your application to live on campus, the more likely it is that you’re going to be able to live on campus and in Lyon. So it’s a little bit of a toss up for students who are trying to decide between multiple schools, especially because we know that your financial aid offers are often coming in later in the spring, and don’t come in at the same time that your acceptance would come in. Um, so we understand that that’s a quandary that students face when they’re trying to figure out where they want to live, if they want to live on campus, that kind of stuff. Hopefully these ten spaces in Lyon will help that out quite a bit. But what I tell students, go ahead and apply. If you think MTSU is where you are planning to go. It always costs $350. You have to pay a three hundred and fifty dollars prepayment in order to apply. You never get that entire prepayment back. Half of it will go towards your fall rent, and half of it will go toward your spring rent. And if you cancel, you will get some money back, depending on when you cancel. So as of May 1st, you’ll get $175 back if you apply before May first. If you cancel before May 1st, you’ll get $175 back. If it’s by June first, you’ll get $100 back, and then, on July 1st you’ll get $50 back. So, you never get the full $350, which is why it’s a decision that you’ve got to make. You know how much, how much you want to gamble. But like I said, my standard answer for folks is to apply for housing. When you are confident that MTSU is where you want to go.
(Cost information mentioned above is accurate for 2026).
Robin Lee: Thank you for explaining the prepayment fee, because that was actually going to be my next question. So that helps out tremendously. I know that’s a question that you probably get asked a lot anyway. So yes, students in Lyon Hall are encouraged to enroll in at least one Honors class or at least stay on track with Honors requirements. But it’s not mandatory to be an Honors student to live in Lyon, so I kind of feel like I’m beating a dead horse a little bit. But I want to be clear because it can be confusing when we say that Lyon Hall is an Honors LLC. You all have said that many students prefer Lyon because it’s often a quieter space than some of the others on campus, which is important for those who thrive in quiet time and may not necessarily be here to party through their college experience.
I want to talk about what it’s like living in Lyon. Nana, explain a little bit about your role as an area coordinator, and how do you see students balancing academics and community life in Lyon Hall?
Nana Adu: Thank you for your question. So as the area coordinator for Lyon Hall, my role is to support both the residents and the students staff in creating a positive, inclusive and well-functioning community. I oversee the RAs, help guide their programming, and handle community concerns, and make sure students have the resources they need to feel at home. Because at the end of the day, we want to make the residence halls a home away from home. A big part of my job is balancing the administrative side. So, like having health and safety checks, enforcing policies, that is the MTSU housing policies and the student conduct policies, and then the operations side, making sure the space is clean for students. And then with the relational side, which is being present, approachable and engaged with students in the day to day experience. I see students navigating academics and community life with a lot of intention in Lyon Hall. So many students here value their academics highly, very highly. But they also recognize that having a supportive social network makes balancing everything easier. So we have students with very tight schedules who hardly have time for their social life. But even these students make the effort to check in with their RAs like they make sure to talk to their RAs like almost every week and tell them what they did during the week and all that, which is very good. And we also have students who strike a strong balance between academics and community life. And these are often the students who help. They’re always planning events, decorating the hallways together,playing musical instruments in the lounges and even like finding small ways to build connection. So that’s kind of like the students we have.What really stands out to me here is how students look out for one another in line. I think Kera was kind of like mentioning that earlier, and I’m happy because I know it didn’t start from my time here. So it’s been a culture of Lyon. So, whether it’s sharing resources, checking in during busy weeks, creating calm and focused spaces during midterms and finals, like Lyon students always look out for each other. Lyon has a culture where community and academics don’t compete. They genuinely complement each other. So when it’s learning time, the atmosphere is quiet. We all learn together. And when it’s time for social life, let’s talk. Hey, let’s share ideas. So that’s how Lyon is. I love that, and I love all the points that you made because it does kind of. I can’t think of the word I’m trying to think of. It does go in line with what Kera mentioned earlier.
Robin Lee: So to hear specifically from our alum, what kind of support or special programs did you take advantage of while you were living there, Honors or otherwise?
Kera Reynolds: Yeah, there were a couple events I attended while I was at Lyon, and at the beginning of the year, the Lyon staff was kicking off the Honors Living Learning community by hosting a bonfire night, where I got to meet other students from different floors who were part of the Honors College. And as I mentioned, I remember that was like one of the first nights I felt very connected to Lyon with the other RAs and also with other Honors students. Also one of the RAs of the building highly advertised the honor. I remember it was an Honors hiking trip, and she is part of the Honors College, and she advertised it to everyone on her floor and also on my floor, too. She wasn’t my RA, but she advertised it on my floor, too. And I love being outdoors, and her energy just made me want to go. And I’m glad I had the opportunity to go. And because I was able to meet new people and meet others who were not my RA. Meet more people who were not on my floor, and meeting those people and going on that trip just made me realize how tight knit of a community we have at Lyon. And then lastly, I just tried to participate or drop by other RA programs, including my own RA, whether they were Honors related or not. And all these activities inspired me to be more involved with the Honors College. I attended many of their events the Honors College hosted, such as the Ice Cream Social, and then also volunteered at Adams Place, which is one of the assisted living centers in Murfreesboro. However, I think my favorite way I was able to be involved with the Honors College is Honors Collage, which is one of the Honors College publications. That gave a creative platform for students to submit their art pieces and writing. I even submitted some of my own pieces, but I enjoyed being a member and looking at the other pieces and seeing how people use their voice to use creativity to share their voice. And then lastly, last school year, I was giving the opportunity to talk and give a presentation to the students who were in the process of doing their Honors thesis. And as someone who’s majoring in higher education right now in graduate school, I believe it is important to still keep connecting with others and keeping in contact with those who have helped you along the way. And I’m glad I was given all these opportunities to get involved with the Honors College. I also want to thank all of the people at Lyon, the staff members at Lyon who helped me with my journey.
Robin Lee: Thank you so much for sharing all of that. So, I’m going to ask some questions that you probably get asked a lot and that I’ve seen on different student forums. So, something we probably should have touched on at the beginning, but I was kind of eager to dive into Lyon Hall.
Specifically, what is the difference between a traditional residence hall and a living learning community?
Amy Korstange: A traditional residence hall is exactly what you picture on every TV show or movie you’ve ever seen about somebody living on campus when they’re in college. The traditional residence hall has double. We call them double loaded corridors, which just means they’re inside hallways with rooms for two people on either side and then a community bathroom. That’s a traditional residence hall. And it functions as a function. It’s there so that you have somewhere to go and to sleep and to study. We work hard to make sure that it’s a safe place. And that it is that we provide resources as they’re necessary. RAs are there to do events with students who live in the residence halls. They’re there to make sure they’re all right. They’re there to make sure that things are running smoothly. If something is not going well in someone’s life, they’re there to help them get resources. We do that regardless of whether or not it’s a residence hall or a living learning community. The difference between the two comes in the interests of the group of people who are living together in the building. A traditional living learning community is one where a group of people live together who all are interested in the same thing. More often than not, it’s academic. So in this case, it’s students who are all in the Honors college. We have other living learning communities on campus at MTSU. We have music at the Middle Living Learning community, where all of those students are interested in performing and classical jazz arts. We have one for students who are in the aerospace learning in the aerospace program. So those are academically focused on living learning communities. They’re designed to have a bunch of people living together who are interested in the same thing, taking the same classes, potentially needing to do study nights about the same content, to make it very easy for faculty and staff from those academic departments to get to get with students in their space where they live, and connect the students with their academic area. We also have a few living learning communities on campus that are theme based. And those would be like a rec village that’s over in Cummings Hall. And Rec Village is a partnership with the Student Recreation Center. We do yoga classes in Cummings Hall, those kinds of things. So, the biggest difference is you can live in a residence hall and not and not feel a whole lot different than if you were living in a living learning community. The difference is the intentionality that we put into connecting you with your academic college, with your academic department. At MTSU specifically, we have a slightly different version of that in that you can live anywhere on campus and be part of the living learning community. It’s a very inclusive model. And it’s interesting because a lot of schools have moved toward our model where you don’t have to all live together in one building. You can live all over campus but get together for events, which is why a lot of your listeners, if they are upperclassmen in Honors, they don’t live in Lyon because either there wasn’t space or they wanted to live in a first year, experience community and also be in Lyon. Or they wanted to do aerospace and Honors and chose to live in aerospace. So, all of our living learning community programs are open to anyone on campus who wants to be involved with that living learning community. Lyon is a bit unique in that it is a very, very clear tie between us and the HonorsCollege. We have a couple other LLCs that are like that on campus, but it’s pretty unique, um, that we really focus hard on it being in Lyon to keep students together.
Robin Lee: And I want to highlight something that I think is key for LLCS. I recently saw a post in the MTSU Parent and Family Association Facebook group asking about sending their son to live on campus with a small electronic drum kit in either Corlew or Cummings Halls. Many parents chimed in about a corner room or a single room, but my favorite response was shout out to Carolyn Phillips Riley, if you’re listening, who encouraged them to consider Monohan Complex instead. Because it’s an LLC for musicians and has rehearsal rooms in the basement. So, while you don’thave to be a music major to stay at Monohan or an Honors student to stay at Lyon, I think it’s good for students coming here and their families to know there are some major benefits to LLCs and forming like-minded communities within them. So, this leads to my next question.
Students often ask about hanging things on walls or bringing appliances, what items are allowed in dorms, and what’s something that’s prohibited?
Amy Korstange: Yeah. As somebody who lived in the dorms and was a former resident assistant and now resident director, I know many of the items that are prohibited and then items that I recommend bringing. So, for example, for one of the items for the rooms, as far as hanging stuff up, I do recommend bringing painter’s tape just because it doesn’t peel the paint off the wall whenever you are trying to hang something up. Some items that are prohibited include air fryers and candles, but I do recommend you can use a candle warmer. And then you can’t use air fryers, but you can use the ovens that are provided in the kitchens, which I do recommend because it does build community among the halls. So, if there was an issue in the kitchen, you’re able to talk with the community in the hall because you do share the space and it does, help you deal with real world situations. What about microwaves? You can bring your microwave. However, many kitchens do provide microwaves.
Robin Lee: Another question most recently seen on Reddit is about finding roommates. Is there a campus search resource, like an app or a social media group that students can use? And kind of walk me through the process that most students use to find roommates?
Kera Reynolds: I personally found my roommate through our class Facebook page. That’s how I got to know her. But I know that there are other apps out there now. Just because not many people use Facebook such as I know, recently Instagram started an MTSU story page, and so some people will ask on there like, hey, I’m just trying to find a roommate. Does anybody want to room with me? And I just do it. And something I recommend is just getting to talk to your roommates. Being able to find a room and being able to talk to them, get to know their interests, simple things like their major, what they want to do in life. And also, being able to set those boundaries and communicate what they want, what they want in the room, what they want to see as roommates. So that it doesn’t create any kind of like, roommate conflicts at the beginning of the year.
Amy Korstange: I think it’s also helpful to know that we don’t require you to stay with the person that you initially moved in with. So if you move in with that person and you know that this is not going to be a good fit for you, you just need to let us know and we will let you know where we have open spots and you can move to an open spot. There are places that make it harder to do that. We tend to let you move, if you want to move.
Nana Adu: Another thing that I would like to add is the group meetings. I know some faculties and departments like create group meetings for newly admitted students. And this is what has been helpful in the past. So, like students introduce themselves and say like, hey, I’m from Tennessee, I’m from Nashville. And then through that, they get to meet people who share the same experiences that they also share. And that helps a lot. Another thing that I also want to say is that we let our RAs use the roommate agreements a lot, so you don’t necessarily have to know somebody. I mean, people normally prefer to room with people they already know, but that’s okay if you don’t know anybody. Because we have several out of state students who do not know anybody here and it’s fine. We have always done the roommate agreements, which is like setting up the two rooms. The two roommates set expectations on how they want to use the shared space. And I feel like that is so good. So, it’s okay if you don’t know anybody. Um, we have the roommate agreement where, like, you can still get to share your expectations with your roommates and get along with them.
Robin Lee: So, you still get to put like-minded people together. Yeah. That’s good. So, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about some tips for living on campus. We’ll start with what is one of the most important topics-food. Students want to know how they can get fed, and parents want the comfort of knowing that their child is fed.
What are some breakfast recommendations on or near campus, especially places that are walkable?
Kera Reynolds: So, as a student who lived on campus, I do recommend going into the dining halls like getting your own meal plan. That way you’re saving money in the long run, and you’re meeting people in the dining hall. And also, the food is affordable and delicious. We have McCallie’s dining hall, which is an all you can eat buffet style dining hall. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Personally, my favorite is the breakfast, just because it is so good. And also, my breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. And there are also places like other fast-food places like Chick fil A, Subway, Twisted Tacos. And then also there is a dining hall called Farmer’s Market where they serve food that’s grown on MTSU’s Farm or nearby people.
Nana Adu: We also have dining in the James Union Building that’s next to Lyon Hall.
Robin Lee: Okay, close, and walkable?
Nana Adu: Yes.
Robin Lee: What are some popular places to hang out or meet other college students?
Nana Adu: I feel like the connection point events were very helpful. We had some of the areas take their residents there, so that’s a very good place. So, just attending connection point events will help you meet a lot of students. And then, some of our RAs take residence there. We also have the resident hall council as well. They also put up programs every month. So just attending these events overall helps you like to meet people.
Robin Lee: Is there anything specific that you all want to plug that we haven’t covered yet?
Nana Adu: I think I would just like to say that normally when students get excited, when they get admission letters, they don’t really take the time to look at our policies. So just go on the website, just search for MTSU housing policies 501. Take some time and then read through it. It will save you a lot of time.
Robin Lee: So, this has been an insightful conversation. Lyon Hall and campus housing in general truly offer a supportive, academically focused environment for Honors students with the added benefit of affordability compared to off campus living. So, thank you to Amy Korstange, Nana Adu, and Kera Reynolds for joining us today on Honors Spotlight. For students interested in applying to live on campus, visit mtsu.edu/housing for more details. Be sure to subscribe and stay up to date with all things Honors.