One of the worst parts of your freshman year of college is living in the dreaded dorms. You get sick way too often, the dining hall food is a constant hit and miss, and the washer and dryers are never dependable. However, many of your greatest memories can be made there - and your one, two, or three other roommates are the reasons for that. Here are some things that you can do together to make living in those dorms the best it can be:
1. Cook a meal together.
The halls provide a kitchenette for a reason! Whether you're simply trying to be healthy or love to cook - it's at your disposal. One thing my roommates and I did together was make Rice Krispy Treats. We had the best time doing it! ...even though the end results were awful.
2. Take a well-deserved nap.
Congrats! You both dragged each other out of bed to make it to your 10:30 then grubbed on some good old dining hall food. You both secretly know how much homework, cleaning, and laundry needs to be done. But neither of you can tell each other to get it done. So, back into bed you go to watch Netflix until you drift off into another four-hour slumber.
3. Have a movie day.
Sometimes all you need is an entire day of doing absolutely nothing except making a bed of blankets and holding a marathon. Rom Coms, Horror, Comedy, Disney. You name it. Just watch all your favorites and relax together.
4. Skip class - together.
As often as you and your roomies will drag each other out of bed to ensure you all make it to class, sometimes you'll be talking each other into missing a day to watch another movie, take another nap, or even study (if you need to be productive for once).
5. Talk about your day, and rant about it.
At the end of the day, all you need is to talk about it. My favorite thing to do every night was to hear all my roomies days, the ups and downs, and to talk about mine. Rant about boring lectures and insane assignments, or about the biker that almost hit me, how much time was wasted at the library. Nightly roomie talks are small but always put me in a better mood to help me fall asleep.
6. Fight.
You know you're going to do it. Two, three or four girls in a small space? There will be issues with cleanliness, from sharing items, and for lost/forgotten keys. While fights have the power to tear people apart, they usually make friendships stronger. Little fights will come here and there but you know you need your roomies.
7. Share.
Despite how many times you guys fight, you know you all will share everything. Makeup, shoes, clothes, jewelry, chargers. It's what friends and roomies do. There's always one roomie who has better accessories, more shoes, and cuter tops. Sharing is caring (just don't mess their items up).
8. Pull some pranks on each other.
I never pulled any, but I had one roommate who loved to pull them on all of us (I was finding packing peanuts in my bed for an entire semester). Pranks can go too far, but messing with each other has pick-me-ups and just bring good vibes when someone is stressed.
9. Host a few dance parties.
You all will be stressed multiple times throughout the year - and a few of those will overlap. Grab a speaker and throw on some Hannah Montana, whatever's popular or some Disney. Dancing around for even ten minutes while using brushes as microphones is sometimes all you need. It may lead to a noise complaint, but you will all be less stressed, so it's totally worth it in my book.
10. One last midnight walk through campus
One of my roommates and I did this our last night in the room. We just walked the campus and talked. It was definitely one of my best memories of the year. We reflected on our year and couldn't believe how much had happened and how we each changed - for the better - this past year. I highly recommend.
