I came to Rider University in the spring semester of 2015 and was supposed to have a roommate, but ended up getting a single room in Switlik dorm hall, which is one of the few dorms at Rider University with air conditioning. I was not expecting to get my first room there since it was hard to get into Switlik in the fall semester.
Though I was so disappointed in the size of the overall dorm (since it was half of a double) and the room was pretty cramped, even just for one person, I still strongly believe that the best dorm room is the first one you ever have when you live on campus. Even though it was very small, I was able to have great memories with jam sessions and Dominos parties in that room. It still had a homely feel to it and I filled it with countless posters from my favorite movies to my favorite games and memories from my freshman year. I was also very grateful for the air conditioning, especially when it came to the later months, in April and May, when it started getting really hot.
In Switlik, I was able to control the overall temperature of the room, so when I first arrived and unpacked my stuff, I was sweating bricks and drenched by the time I unpacked everything in my room. I was excited to meet my first ever RA, but unfortunately, I barely saw her because of her involvement on campus. But I really looked up to her because she was an upperclassmen who introduced to many clubs on campus and even stepped out of her way to check up on me since I was a new resident midway through. This actually motivated me to get out of my room and interact and socialize, and I made some pretty great friends after my first semester.
The best part was I had my own TV with access to Netflix. Most people had roommates in their freshman year and I've heard stories about their late night chill sessions, talking about deep topics or watching shows until 4 am. Even though I did not have the decorating excitement as most others do, I thought and dreamed about my first ever dorm room in college throughout the summer but had to unfortunately wait until Spring to finally see it. Though I did not experience the same interactions and experiences, I still missed my freshman dorm room just because it held the first ever college memories and the room even helped meet my best friends.
