I'm pretty sure everyone about to head off to college can agree on one thing: moving away seems like the most exciting thing to look forward to. However, I'm pretty sure that everyone who has already headed off to college can also agree on one thing: there are so many things you don't expect about moving. Struggles or not, moving into a dorm with a bunch of other girls is definitely a... unique experience.
1. Showering with shoes on
Everyone knows that you're going to most likely have to share a shower with your suitemates if you're living in a dorm, so that means the ever-fabulous shower shoes (or $1 flip flops from Walmart). This is something a lot of us still haven't gotten used to. One of the biggest perks about going home is getting to take a shoeless shower. That's agreed on for sure.
2. Small closets. Like super small
Look, I don't have a lot of clothes and I can barely, barely, fit all of my stuff. I don't know about other college dorms, but in mine? I don't even have enough room to put all of my jeans in a drawer. I knew that space in dorm rooms were limited, but the closets are just a whole other story. A lot of my clothes are in a plastic storage bin under my bed.
3. Getting to live with your friends
Luckily, I love love love the girls I live with, and I hang out with them every day, inside and out of our dorm. We get to commiserate during finals week and watch "The Bachelor" together every Monday. We order pizza together and pick stuff up from the store for each other. It's what you do. It's like a sleepover every night.
4. You'll get tired of not having a car really quickly
At first you might be like, "Oh yeah, I'll be living on campus, I won't need a car." But trust me. Not having a car and not being able to go to Taco Bell at 11 p.m. is the worst. Target isn't five minutes away by car but 45 minutes away by bus. You better get used to Amazon Prime-ing everything. Like everything.
5. Having to have an extension cord to charge your phone in bed
Also, climbing up a ladder to get in your bed at the end of the day. First, you have to find an outlet to plug the stupid thing into, and then you have to somehow string it up to your bed without it being in the way of your ladder. All you wanna do is re-charge your phone while you re=charge too. #TheStruggle
6. Speaking of outlets, you literally have two for yourself without a power strip
Where the hell are you supposed to get power for your phone charger, laptop charger, lamp, curling iron, fan, microwav, and refrigerator? This definitely won't happen without the help of a power strip (or two). Seriously, how did they expect you to live in here?
8. Not being able to fit a pizza box in your mini fridge
Okay, honestly this is my biggest strug. You order a pizza, don't eat it all (breakfast, am I right), and then you don't have anywhere to put the leftovers because the box is too big for the mini fridge. I always resort to taking two pieces at a time and putting them on a plate and covering that plate with another plate and then taping them. That is honestly the biggest college struggle.
11. Having to carry all of your shower supplies in a caddy instead of them already being in there like at home
At home, you get in and your shampoo, conditioner and body wash are waiting for you. Now, you awkwardly have to hold your towel on and carry a big plastic thing full of everything you need. Don't forget that either, otherwise you'll just be standing in a stream of water — with shoes on, of course.
11. Terrible lighting. Just terrible
Don't do your makeup in that lighting. Somebody might ask you if you have a black eye tbh. It's like some cheap fluorescent light with a filter over it to make it seem less sterile.
12. Having to get ready in the dark if your roommate's first class is after yours
It's an art, really. Being able to pick out an outfit and put it on correctly as well as putting all of your stuff in your backpack for class in the dark is a life skill that everyone should acquire at some point.
13. In that case, coordinating sleep schedules in general
You have a big paper due tomorrow and your roommate is trying to go to bed. Of course you can type in the dark, but even then you're silently begging your laptop keys to stop making so much noise. Everyone wants to be the considerate roommate.
14. Not having an oven or stove and trying to cook everything in a microwave
No doubt you're going to need some of those handy food cookers that make stove stuff in a microwave. And when you go home, you'll want to cook everything — everything — on the stove or oven. Like even stuff you don't really need to make. When you move out of the dorms your second year, you get more amenities. But for now? Microwave and microwave only.
15. Hair on literally everything
Honestly, did I shed this much when I lived at home? Maybe it's just the combination of 15 girls living together in one vicinity, but everything just has hair on it. Gross, but true.
