When I first made the decision to move into a dorm, to live in a place other than my own house, I was ecstatic. As an incoming freshman in college, I was excited by all the new experiences I would make by living in a dorm and couldn’t wait for even the smallest lick of freedom. Would I be friends with those in my hall? Would we all become best friends? How was my roommate like in real life and not on Facebook? Would we have game nights and stay up all night talking despite the ‘Quiet Hours’?

My boxes were all full a few days prior to move-in day. I was double and triple checking everything, as if each check through would bring me close to move-in day. I had even done all my research, meaning I had looked up nearly every youtube video about the dorm I was staying in.

The day before move-in day, my nerves were kicking in. I would no longer have my own bathroom, I could no longer sleep with my music playing out loud, I could no longer have random solo dance parties at 5 A.M, but I was still excited out of my mind. I had been kept in a home where I followed someone else's rules but now I can take a step into my independence by making my own. I felt a new found freedom coming my way. My parents could no longer check if I was in my room at 12 A.M, no one was telling me when to sleep, I didn’t have to clean the bathrooms, I could eat whatever I want and I couldn’t wait. Nothing could go wrong, my first dorming experience would be an incredible one with nothing bad was going to happen.

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It’s been nearly over a month and I can confirm that I was naive prior to move-in day.

What they don’t tell you is, despite living on the women’s floor, the bathrooms are always going to a mess. It may smell better due to all the scented shampoos, but it will always remain a mess. I didn’t anticipate that people would be inconsiderate to the extent that they will not clean their toothpaste or spaghetti out of the sink, or that they would take all of the toilet seat covers out of one stall and dump it in the trash. And that the trash can would just be seen as a suggestion as people will just leave their paper towels and feminine hygiene packagings on the floor. Nor did I expect that there would be small nats in the showers alongside abstract hair murals on the wall, but I guess such is life.

They also don’t tell you that the walls will be thin as paper. I could have a conversation with the people next to me and two doors down without ever leaving my bedroom, which is convenient until someone chooses to have sex or stay up at some ungodly hour and screaming as if they were at a rave. Or that having to do your laundry will be the most tedious job you’ll ever have to do. If you aren’t by your machine the second the beeper goes off then you best believe you’ll need to do your laundry again because someone will end up throwing your clothes on the floor to make room for their own. At that point, you’ll really be wishing you were at home where your mom could take care of the laundry for you.

But at the end of it all, you’ll still cherish your dorm-living experience because you weren’t able to get that experience anywhere else (also it makes great for story-telling).