When I began writing for the Odyssey, I wanted to encourage others to take a risk when applying for universities and give them advice on what to expect. Today, I want to share my experience living in college dorms.

Presently, I live in a double suite, meaning I live in a room with one other person and there is a bathroom splitting apart the other two people that live in the suite. Very confusing, I know. Also, we are provided with furniture including refrigerator, beds, dressers, desk and chair.

Living in the dorms is difficult, especially living with a stranger, making decisions and compromising for your roommate. Here are some things you possibly will handle while living in college dorms.

Firstly, noise. When you live in the dorms, there are many noises. Most are fire alarms, people running down the halls or parties. They can get very disturbing, especially when you do not sleep at night because of studying or working. A lot of things seem to get me very irritated, however, this is because of the unsteady sleeping schedule I have while being in college. When this happens, I tend to advise an RA or the residents themselves and this solves the problem with no issues.

Community bathrooms are another thing to expect. When I was a freshman, I had a community bathroom. This is when your hall, consisting of fifteen to twenty rooms on each side of the hall, shares one communal bathroom. I can not express how many times I was sick while taking all precautions, such as, shower flip flops. Also, the bathrooms would fill up very quickly, around the night, because everyone has eaten dinner and finished homework. My hallway was provided with six showers and all could be filled up at once, meaning, you have to wait around in a towel until one opened. Living in the dorms with communal bathrooms are difficult but manageable.

Lastly, roommates are situations that are unpredictable. My freshman year I had two other roommates and the room was spacious, however, it seemed very small at the time. With three girls living in one room, it was hectic. Like I was saying previously about noise situations, college students are very irritable because of the lack of sleep, balanced diet or due to the fact that it is everyone's first time living in dorms. With this, my roommates and I had tension over the smallest mishaps in our room. Although there were situations brought about, it was smooth throughout the remainder of the semester. The reason I say roommate situations are unpredictable is because of the other experiences that my friends had with their roommates. A few of my friends had amazing experiences with their roommates, and continue to talk to them today. Just keep in mind, whether you hear horror stories about roommates or amazing stories, it is unpredictable.