MacLean House is a place for rural students from Alaska to live that eases the transition from village life to college life. The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation built MacLean House as a complex for shareholders to live while they attended college in the late 90s.

"Students found the dorms overwhelming because some of the dorms are bigger than the villages where they came from," said Assistant Resident Director Russell Snyder.

MacLean is made up of several different buildings. Men and women are housed separately in small dorms with six double rooms. Families inhabit two apartments and the common area is where students can hang out and cook their meals.

On the first Wednesday of every month, MacLean House holds a potluck where they serve native foods to residents of MacLean or anyone interested. They usually have about 35 people in attendance.

Last week with the Alaska Federation of Natives convention, MacLean House was a lot more active, with five guests staying over. Many students had friends and relatives in town for the AFN convention, and the Inu-yupiaq dance group had the unique opportunity of performing dance.

Elizabeth Stein, 19, is a computer science major. She grew up in Barrow and graduated from high school in Oregon. The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation provided her with a scholarship, and she takes full advantage of the college experience by participating in the dance group. Stein knows she could handle the louder, more active halls on campus, but she prefers MacLean because it is quieter and homier than other residence halls on campus.