Anyone who has lived in a dorm can understand that the on-campus life can get annoying. At my college, we are required to live in a dorm for two years. And then we are kicked off campus to find an apartment or house. I am in year two of dorm living, and I am ready to live in an apartment.

So, here are just a few things that are annoying about living on-campus.

1. Having an RA

We are living away from our parents for the first time in eighteen years. And the university wants to hire fellow students to watch over us? Isn’t that just a nice way of saying “parent”? I’ve had some pretty chill and awesome RAs, but it’s the principle behind it. Just because we’re on our own in a new place, doesn’t mean we need a babysitter.

2. Having a roommate

The scary thing about having a roommate is that it could be really fun and you’ll end up being friends, or you’ll hate each other and live in a roommate horror story. I’ve been very lucky with both my roommates. I went random my first year, and she and I are amazing friends. I’m living with her again in a suite, and in an apartment next year. My roommate this year is also a really good friend. But I have heard really terrible stories about my friends’ roommates. It’s either hit or miss with the roommate situation.

3. Community bathrooms

This got really annoying my freshman year. I didn’t mind it at first, but after a while it got tedious. You needed a PED to get into the bathroom, so if you forgot it you had to run back and get it. I did that many times. It also got very uncomfortable when you had to poop when there were other people in the bathrooms. If you just sat in the stall for a long time, people started to figure out what was going on, which was even more embarrassing. But the bathroom had fantastic selfie lighting.

4. The shower situation

The showers were set up in a locker room form. There were five showers with a thin curtain separating your naked body from being revealed to the rest of the bathroom. It was very nerve-racking. And you had to wear shower shoes, and bring everything you might possibly need. It got taxing hauling my shower caddy to the shower every day. I especially hated it when I forgot something little like a new razor or conditioner bottle.

5. The constant smell of drugs

It doesn’t matter what dorm you live in, you will smell weed all the time. It gets awkward when your parents come and visit, too. They think it smells gross, you agree, and then that’s that. There’s nothing you can do to stop the smell, and it doesn’t matter how many complaints you put in: that smell will always come back. Just something you have to deal with, I guess.

6. Quiet hours

This is another thing that doesn’t really make sense to me. The only time quiet hours make sense is during exam week. Also, my friends and I like to play the Wii into the wee hours of the night, and when we get frustrated by a loss, it’s kind of hard to remain calm and quiet. Also, on Friday and Saturday nights, all of the party-goers are annoyingly loud after quiet hours. So, it doesn’t really make sense to me.

7. No air conditioning

Now this isn’t the most annoying thing. It’s just a little inconvenient. I lived in a dorm that didn’t have A/C my freshman year. The first two months were just very hot and sweaty. We had our fans going on high 24/7, and it was still scorching. But even in the winter, it was hot. A/C was just an amenity that we missed for a few weeks, but then everything was fine. We were looking forward to having it this year, and it has been amazing.

8. Parking on campus

If you’re one of the lucky students who have a car on campus, it’s probably parked a mile away from your dorm. There are two parking lots at my college for students. One lot is in a dark and “sketchier” part of the neighborhood, and the other is on the opposite side of campus. And there are a surprising number of cars in both lots. It’s hard to get a good parking spot in either, and when you do, leave your car in that spot. Once you move your car, you will never get it back. It’s just inconvenient to walk a mile in the wintertime to get your car.

9. Checking in after midnight

Checking in makes sense when students have gone downtown or to parties. But if I stay out to 3 a.m. playing board games with friends, or make a 1 a.m. Taco Bell run, I have to check in, too. I participated in Relay for Life this semester, and I got back to the dorm at 6 a.m. I had to check in, and it was pointless. I don’t see a reason for checking in when you haven’t been partying or drinking.

10. Fire drills

Fire drills are one of the worst things about living on-campus. There are idiot residents who burn pizza rolls by putting the cardboard box into the microwave, or burn some dish they’re making in the kitchen. And because someone messed around and burned something, the whole dorm has to pay. It’s super annoying. There are also monthly tornado drills that happen at 10 a.m. on the first Saturday. My roommates and I have gotten to the point of just staying in bed because we know it’s fake. But we do leave for every other drill, despite how much we complain.

SEE ALSO: 13 Times Your Dorm Fire Alarm Will Inevitably Go Off

11. Meal plans

Living on-campus also forces the students to purchase meal plans. The dining halls serve the same food every other week, and tempt you with fried and unhealthy options. There’s an entire station that has pizza. The salad bar is really good, but who wants to eat a salad over pizza? Eating at dining halls makes it really hard to make healthy food choices. But that’s just another thing you gotta deal with by living on-campus.

12. Laundry rooms

Doing your laundry is already an annoying chore, but having to go to a public room that doesn’t have enough washers or dryers, regardless of where you live, is even more annoying. There is the constant fear that your clothes will be stolen out of the dryer, or taken out of the washer to be on display for everyone. If you’re not down in the room the minute your laundry is done, someone will put it on top of the washer and use it. I have done that many times, you gotta do what you gotta do, but when it happens to you it sucks. It’s all based on perspective.

* * *

There are many annoying things about living on-campus, but it also allowed me to meet some of my closest friends. On-campus living has its ups and downs, and these are just a few downs. But getting to hang out with friends 24/7 and creating lifelong bonds makes it all worth it.