Respecting Residence Halls

Residence halls... Chances are if you are a college student, you are living in one (unless you commute). Living in a dorm room is a unique experience. Often times it's your first real experience being independent. It is also a very social place to be, as you have several neighbors and have a roommate. Usually, the dormitory experience is painted to be a once in a lifetime experience. The on-campus lifestyle is supposed to be exciting. New friends, new social life, and living things up your own way. Sounds cool right? Well, unfortunately that is just not always the case.

See, dorm rooms may have their problems: things can break down, they can be cramped, and there is definitely less privacy. But those types of things are easy to deal with. In fact, you get used to it pretty quickly. However, there is one major fault that can come with living in a residence hall: the people you live with. Let's face it, while most people are genuinely good, there are still quite a few bad eggs out there, and you definitely learn that fairly quickly when you live on campus. Sometimes they play loud music, and or make loud noise in general. Now that is something that is despicable. There can even be mean people, possibly a roommate, who tries to make your life a living hell. Still, there is a major thing that annoying people on campus love to do. Trash the place...

If you have been on campus long enough, then you know what I am talking about. People who break glass on the sidewalks; people who string toilet paper all over the bathroom; people who throw up in the hallway, and leave their beer cans in the lobbies. Messy and deplorable people who think it's okay to trash their and everyone else's residence hall does not deserve to even be there. Really, it's one thing to go out party, and get drunk. But it's another when you decide to bring the party to the campus halls at two in the morning, wake people up, and make the place look like a hurricane came through.

You should respect your residence halls because you are not the only person living there. It is not fair to everyone else if you decide that your residence hall should be your own personal trash dump. It is not fair to your neighbors, your resident assistants, and its a blatant insult to cleaning staff who work hard to maintain your hallways and bathrooms. If you cannot manage to do that, then you should not be in college in the first place. And while we are on the subject, lets turn our eyes back to noise issues. Noise issues are probably the second worst thing about residence halls. How thick-headed does someone really have to be, to think that putting their speakers on the highest decibel, when your neighbor needs to study? How rude do you have to be to not respect quiet hours and people's sleep? Really, it is ridiculous. You would not want someone to wake you up with loud music, doors slamming and screaming at 3 am. So why would you do it to someone else? It is just not right.

Please do learn to respect your residence halls. It is not that hard. Just pick up your trash, respect people's space, and follow quiet hours. A residence hall should feel homely for everyone, because it is supposed to be our escape from all of the stresses of college. That needs to be understood. No one's space should be disturbed by immature and childish antics...