A dorm can become a home away from home, but you never really know what to expect from dorm life until you move in and are forced to live with 50 other strangers. After living in the dorms throughout my freshman year, I have learned quite a few things.
1. Proper elevator etiquette.
If you decide to take the elevator to the second floor, or even the third floor, just know that everyone else in the elevator loathes and judges you. If you think pushing all of the buttons is amusing, you should probably sleep with one eye open. Basically, just stand there, avoid eye contact, look at your phone, or pretend to listen to music until the excruciatingly long, uncomfortable, forced interaction with other people is over. Or take the stairs.
2. If you do not want the entire floor to know something, do not tell a single soul.
You think that you can tell a person a secret and no one else on the floor will find out. Wrong. Gossip spreads like wildfire in the dorms. If one person knows something about you, it is inevitable that everyone else will know within a day or two. Even if something is not true, you can still probably expect a rumor or two to get around.
3. Living on the same floor as your best friends can be a blessing and a curse.
Pros: You always have a squad to roll out with, have multiple closets to raid that are just a few feet away, always have a shoulder to cry on if needed (dead week) and you are constantly making cherished memories.
Cons: Living with friends can be distracting. While you may be studying, you see the rest of your friends getting ready to go out, get FOMO (the fear of missing out), and decide that school isn't important and it's in your best interest to be social.
4. Floorcest should be avoided.
Before deciding to make a move on someone who lives on the same floor as you, make sure you fully think about the consequences without cringing at the possible awkwardness for the rest of the year. Because you will undoubtedly run into an ex hook-up on your way to your room, your friend's room, while doing laundry, in the elevator...basically anywhere in the dorm.
5. Appreciate real food when going home.
Dining common food is pretty adequate for the first couple of weeks of school. By the time April hits, you seriously appreciate a meal that does not originate from the dining commons or take-out menus. Sometimes you have to treat yourself with a nice home-cooked meal instead of eating the questionable mystery meat that is forced upon you in the dining commons.
6. When one person gets sick, everyone else soon follows...so be prepared.
The second you hear someone coughing, hope that you have some Emergen-C and hand sanitizer.
7. Keep your keys with you at all times.
Nothing is worse than getting locked out of your room right after a shower and having to trek to find your roommate. Or, even worse, having to do the walk of shame down to the front desk to get a key while only wearing a towel. Or, discovering that you have locked yourself out too many times and must rely on your roommate to get in, only to realize that he or she is out and is not coming back for at least a couple of hours.
8. How to live with someone else, whether you like them or not.
Sometimes you get a roommate you absolutely click with--someone who respects your stuff and coexists with your lifestyle perfectly. Sometimes, you don't. Sometimes you get a roommate who is an absolute slob, leaves old food out, watches Netflix without headphones on, is constantly talking obnoxiously on the phone, borrows stuff without asking, or enjoys sexiling you. Living in the dorms teaches you how to adapt to new lifestyles and compromise for better or for worse.
9. The maintenance staff is a blessing.
Communal bathrooms have really shed light on how disgusting people can be. We seriously take these people for granted.
10. When you leave for a weekend, you can easily miss a full week's worth of drama.
It is truly amazing how much random and crazy stuff can happen in two and a half days.
11. Your floor friends become your second family.
You live with them, you deal with their problems, you fight, you make up, and you annoy each other, but you love them all anyway. Whether you are stressing out over school together or doing questionable things in your dorm room and praying your RA doesn't ever find out, these people truly make the dorms a home away from home and make the college experience that much more amazing.
