Dorm life: one giant co-ed sleepover. By the end of the year you have probably seen everyone on your hall in a towel if not naked. Knocking on peoples’ doors before walking in becomes a formality that only people from other floors partake in. At first, it takes some getting used to when you realize that the bathroom is all the way down the hall, and that practically every weekend it is covered in throw up that no one will own up to. And then there is the floor illness. Once the first person becomes infected, it just takes time for everyone on the hall to get sick.
But dorm life isn’t all bad. It takes a very long time in the beginning of the year to learn everyone’s names, and the nametags on the doors are the most helpful things ever. If you get lucky though, you get a super fun and close floor, and I have been this lucky. Our floor group chat is always being used and our floor den is packed with people just hanging out. Everyone tells themselves they will go to the den to do homework, but ends up talking for hours instead. There is always an open room to go and gossip into.
The people on your hall become some of your closest friends, after all they have probably seen you at your worst and your best. They are the ones that help you after a rough night out, and you help them in return after your rough night. You guys not only do homework and hang out together, but you also go out together.
Living in the dorms you learn what it is really like to live in a shoe box and what it is like to eat the same dining hall food every day. The dining hall food gets really old really fast, but you can always find someone to eat with you and every time you go to get you, it is inevitable you will see people you know.
Having to wear shoes in the shower takes some getting used to. The first few weeks, going to the bathroom to poop is the most uncomfortable thing ever. You go into the stall praying that no one else will come in, and when you leave, you are hoping no one else sees you. That soon passes and the next thing you know you are all pooping together and having conversations while doing it.
Living in a college dorm is unlike any other experience, and you are automatically bonded to your floor. There are always floor rivalries because other floors think they are better than yours, but trust me, 7B is by far the best. Finding out someone on the floor is in one of your classes is the best news ever because now you have someone to walk with, sit with, do homework with, study with, and cry with when you fail the test.
There are so many fun things about living in a dorm freshman year, and every time you think about how you won’t be living with your hall next year makes you cry. You always convince yourself you will stay in touch, but it will be hard. So all I can say is live it up with your floor pals while you can!
