Residence halls, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines these as "a place where students live at a college or university," but is that really all it is? A place to crash at night when the days is over? Sure, for some, it's the room on campus that holds all their stuff and offers a "comfy" bed to sleep in at night, but for many it's a place of many firsts and memories you'll never forget.

Most likely, your dorm room was the first place you met your freshman year roomie and encountered the instant sensation of your mind racing to try and figure out if you two would become the best mans and maids of honors at your wedding or the horror story roommate. Your hall was probably where you met some of your first and best friends as new faces wandered into your room. You may have also encountered your first form of guidance since entering college, your resident assistants. Their experience and wisdom on the campus was just enough for you to know that you’d make it through the rough patches. And you might even be lucky enough to call them some of those first friends you make in your hall as well. In addition to gaining new friends, living in a residence hall offers you the opportunity to experience new things. For some this means sharing a room with others for the first time, while the only thing new to others is being awoken by a fire alarm going off at 2 am due to burnt popcorn. It also allows you your first real sense of freedom without totally kicking you out into the real world of “adulting.” You have the freedom of having your own room, a place of your own, with no mom or dad downstairs yelling at you to clean the dishes or that you better be home by curfew. You can come and go as you please with nobody to report to, but don’t get too excited; you’re not all that responsible.

You don’t find yourself cleaning the bathrooms or vacuuming the carpets in the morning, you have the hard working cleaning staff to do that stuff for you. You can eat whatever you want, but not because you cooked it, because someone else put it on a plate for you to choose from. You’re finally an adult, yet you get to avoid all the not so fun parts of the job. And while yes, living in a residence hall has some not so great aspects, you still come back to it every night to call it home. That small cramped room you can’t seem to stand is the place you can relax, sleep, cram for your exams, cry, laugh, and create some of the best memories you will have for life. So sure to some it’s just a dorm, but for others, it’s a place to call home for a year or two.

So thank you. Thank you to our residence halls for fostering our first friendships, our memories, and for letting us be a little less mature for a little bit longer. Thanks for letting us be a little carefree and a little more naive, because without you, we wouldn’t be nearly as ready as we pretend to be to move off campus.