You’re counting down the days until you head home for the end of the semester. You can almost taste your favorite foods that somehow TDR just can’t seem to cook as well as you mother or favorite local restaurant. Classes are wrapping up and your biggest concern is whether or not your dog will recognize you when you see her for the first time since August. Overall, it’s a good time to be at AU. But underneath all of that lies tension. Readings are getting harder to sit through, that 8:55 class just doesn’t seem to be worth getting out of bed for anymore, every paper seems to be due in the same week, and the dreaded finals are approaching. To top it all off, every day you come back to your dorm from a hard day of being a college student just to sit down on your bed, look around, and see dirt in the carpet, clothes thrown everywhere, and your roommate’s dirty dishes sitting on your desk. Slowly it starts to dawn on you that maybe these rooms are too small to fit yourself in- let alone one or two other roommates.
We are all missing the luxury of having our own bathroom and the connivence of keeping the Nutella in the pantry as opposed to hidden in a tupperware container underneath your bed, but living in a college dorm can be awesome if you just take a deep breath and see what you have all around you.
1. You always have people to say “Good Morning!” to.
Ok, so maybe you’re not a morning person, but at least you’ll have the option to say it. Something as simple as saying “good morning” serves as a reminder that you have so many friendly people around you who you actually care about enough to hope that they have a good day.
2. RAs are some of the coolest people on campus.
These are upperclassmen and have gone through the same things you are going through right now. They understand the struggles of moving away from home for the first time and getting used to college life. They know the downward spiral that is the sophomore slide, and they know how to climb out of it (or avoid it completely.)They’re like your big brothers and sisters on the floor and will always be there to give study tips and life advice. Plus, ask about the craziest things they’ve seen while on duty and you’re sure to hear some very interesting stories.
3. If you need something, chances are someone else has it and is willing to share.
Need sugar for your coffee? Your next door neighbor probably has a box or a few extra packets stolen from Starbucks. Need a vacuum? Write a post on the Facebook wall and wait for someone to offer theirs up. People are almost always willing to share if you ask, and these dorms have so many residents that someone is bound to have what you need.
4. You will never be lonely.
All of us feel lonely sometimes. It’s hard being away from home, our friends, our parents, our dogs. Dorm life means there are always people around you- whether you want them there or not. Maybe you don’t appreciate the sound of 3 am dance parties coming from the common room or the wrestling match that is, for whatever reason, occurring right outside your door, but it’s nice to know that anytime you feel like you’re alone or don’t have anyone, you’ll only have to take one step outside your door before running into someone to hang out with.
5.Your roommate will always be there for you.
You may fight over closet space and make passive aggressive comments about who cleans and who doesn’t, it doesn’t matter if your roommate is your best friend or your biggest annoyance, you know that if you are ever really upset and need to talk she will be there to listen and give advice every time.
6. You’ll always have the opportunity to get help on your schoolwork.
This is not high school anymore. We don’t need to message kids in our classes on Facebook for assignments because we don’t talk to them enough to actually get their phone number- or see them outside of class for that matter. In college there will almost always be someone living just down the hall from you who is happy to help you with an assignment, clarify any questions you may have, or just rant with you about how awful the class is.
7. Your floor is your family.
No matter how maybe loud conversations have woken you up in the middle of the night, no matter how many times you’ve walked into the common room kitchen to a sink full of disgusting dishes, and no matter how many individual people you can’t stand, at the end of the day these are the people you live with. You see them every day, go to school with them, and are going through this college experience as a team. Regardless of small complaints, you love your floor and will fight to the death with anyone who claims that theirs is better than yours.
So yes, dorm life may be difficult to navigate sometimes, but it’s totally worth it for the stories that you will be able to tell years down the road.