Don’t be a Dormmat

There are not many times in your life where you will be living in a dorm room. It’s definitely an experience I miss sometimes since moving into my first apartment this year. The environment of living in a dorm room and hall is like nothing I’ve experienced before in my life. Ever since I found out what college was, I dreamed about living in a dorm. I dreamed of how I would decorate my side,and late nights with my roommate watching movies and doing our nails. I had seen movies and dorm life seemed amazing. Throughout high school, the older I got, the more disgruntled I became living in my house with my parents. I wanted to escape off to college and when the time finally came I couldn’t have been more excited. I finally went shopping for my dream dorm, picking out lamps and comforters after years of thinking about it. I guess my excitement blinded me from the fact that I never lived with another person before. Sure, I lived with my family in our house but I still had my own room, my own sanctuary. I would be sharing a living space with another person and at the time I didn’t realize how much time I would be spending with that person. I took those small moments of solitude in my room for granted and realized it only once my excitement died down.

When sharing a space as personal as a bedroom with someone, you have to learn to respect your roommates living habits and they likewise should learn to respect yours. You cannot be a doormat for your roommate to walk over. If something makes you uncomfortable, speak up immediately because if you don’t they will never know that and will continue to do what they are doing. It really comes down to being respectful if you want to have a happy and healthy living situation. Even if you and your roommate don’t get along that well, it’s important to realize that it’s where they live too. The same thing goes for sharing a common area and bathroom with your suitemates. If somebody leaves something a mess or is blasting music too loud or is taking too long in the bathroom, speak up and assert yourself. Don’t ever let somebody make you feel uncomfortable in the place you have to call home.

Despite the loss of privacy and alone time, there’s so many great things about living in the dorms and I encourage that you take advantage of it while you can. Socially, there is something amazing about living around hundreds of kids your age. Being able to walk down the hall and hangout with your friends is so much more convenient than having to drive to a friend’s house. You become so close with these people because they’re around a significant amount more than your friends from home and you truly form a different type of bond with these people. My floor mates from freshmen year are my actual my family at this point. Living in the dorms is also really convenient because you don’t have to travel to school as you’re already on campus. I used to be able to roll out of bed 15 minutes before my class and get there before the professor even stepped in the room. It’s also nice to have a dorm because when you have a break in between classes you can just go back to your room and wait. The thing that amazed me most about living in the dorms was there was no adults around anywhere. The sense of freedom that comes with living in the dorms is liberating especially as an 18-year-old freshman. It’s definitely an experience I hope every person gets to experience.

Melissa F.
Class of 2018
Majors: Spanish & Communication
Blog Theme: Fierce & Freaked

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