In roughly two weeks, I'll be moving out of the room that I've made my temporary home: my freshman dorm room. At first, I thought life would be a constant sleepover with someone I considered one of my best friends at the time aka my roommate. I eventually realized the multifaceted nature of dorm life. Also, a heads up: this is just based on my experience and probably will not be applicable for all freshman college students.
1. Everything was scary and new before...
My roommate and I spent the first few days before classes watching "How I Met Your Mother" while awaiting our eventual destiny, as cheesy as that sounds. I spent most of fall semester afraid to leave my dorm room because I was not entirely used to the fact there were new people living with me on the same floor.
2. ....but now I'm used to it.
I was the shy neighbor and I still am, but I've opened up in some ways thanks to my silly floormates, regardless of whether or not they know it. Even though sometimes I still look like a scared bug to them, I grew more accustomed to my co-ed floor and the whimsical nature of our floor. I was allowed to vent to my floormates and be comfortable with the fact that I looked like a dork walking around a common room with a blanket as a cape; it was all okay.
3. Spontaneity is okay and even fun.
I got used to spontaneity- like going to Wawa at midnight, deciding to go to a cultural event on a whim, or buying hair dye while playing A Thousand Miles on the way there. I had been so accustomed to structure that spontaneity felt really nice.
4. You'll love your floor community.
I'm going to miss hearing about my floormates complain and/or talk about their lives, whether romantic, academic, or recreational. I loved talking to my floormates about random things and hearing their responses. It's rare to have a floor community supportive like that, regardless of how socially awkward and inept I felt. It was innocent, yet freeing to feel like that. Or maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic.
5. Your commuter friends will thank you.
I enjoyed the fact that I was able to open up my dorm room to my commuter friends as well and offer them a place of solace. I enjoyed being a cordial host to my friends coming into my dorm and offering them food. It feels kind of like you're adulting but in a small, empathetic manner.
6. You're going to have a lot of free stuff in your dorm drawers.
Pins, pamphlets, random stuff you don't necessarily know what to do with? They will most likely be hanging out in your dorm drawers. Get ready to stop being a hoarder when you move out!
7. It's okay to fall asleep in the common room.
My floor community never really questioned the fact that some of us fell asleep in the common room at times to take a nap; however, sometimes people took pictures.
8. You figure out quickly that you spend a lot of money on food and going out.
Before when I was in high school, I mostly stayed at home and didn't really go out much to eat. After entering college, I realized the rising cost of my purchases(especially for food on the weekends). Aka, it's probably a good thing to have a part time job in college or your life begins to be similar to when Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents found a nickel.
9. You'll take so many pictures of the people you interact with.
I thought I took a lot of pictures in high school. However, since I go to so many student events now and I think it's more important to document the little things, I've taken way more pictures than I did in high school. It's interesting looking back at them and seeing the little things that have changed.
10. You'll miss your floor and your dorm building.
Although I've complained about the weird smells on my floor and how I lived on the older part of my dorm building, I'll miss aspects of my freshman dorm life.
