Living in a dorm for the first couple years of your college experience is the first opportunity to address those uncomfortable feelings that arise on your journey to live away from home. This is the first time the daily routine is all up to you. Many firsts occur, and the first one is the dorm room and the new faces that reside.

My first feeling, when moving into a dorm room, was uncertainty that I had made the right decision. The newness of everything came flooding at me all at once. It wasn’t until I had been greeted by neighbors in adjacent rooms that I began to relax. That anxious feeling subsided; I could see myself living in the dorm with these strangers. The amazing result was that these strangers turned into friends, study-buddies, best friends and friends for life.

It does not take long to realize which individuals, from the dorm life, would be those cherished life-long friends. Who else could completely understand the 24/7 adjustments that happens from the first year of college until graduation.

When I left for college, it was in the second semester of my sophomore year. I left a two-year feeder school in a neighboring town, driving three-hours to a small college town in southwestern Wisconsin. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time. I was embarking on the next chapter in my life. Adulthood was waiting for me to jump right in and soar. I was uprooting myself mid-year to challenge whether I was ready to leave home. In my gut, I knew it was time, but in my heart, the emotions were tugging me back and forth. My roommate was a real test of my adult behavior. The semester was rough, learning how to live in small quarters with a stranger. By the end of the semester, I grew to love this individual as a friend. It isn’t only habits that turn one into an adult, it is learning about another person, that stranger, the one who gets under your skin and into your heart.

Here are 10 reasons why dorm friends are the best friends:

1. They understand living away from home for the first time.

2. They know what it is like to make new friends.

3. They understand that awkward feeling when adjusting to college life; living in a dorm room.

4. They can be supportive of challenges with professors and coursework.

5. They love pizza and popcorn.

6. There is someone to talk to about your annoying roommate.

7. They know how it feels not having money.

8. You are not alone if you feel homesick.

9. You are all in the same experience: working to attain personal goals, both educational and personal.

10. Dorm friends turn into lifelong friends.

The following article in Forbes Magazine, by Robert Farrington, speaks to life in a dorm and how to make the most out of this new living situation. It touches on the importance of making friends with your new roommate, in your dorm and outside the dorm where you reside. How exciting it is to find people that will last a life-time. Enjoy the search!

Look around at the people in your circle. Many of these individuals will be in your life always. What a wonderful gift to take with you through your personal journey called “life”.