Needless to say, especially for all the upperclassmen that have already been through this, moving away from home for the first time is kind of a big deal. Moving from 18 years of living under the same roof as your family to a cramped dorm room on an unfamiliar campus with unfamiliar people is a huge transition. Here are some of the things I have noticed in my first few weeks of living in the Bates community:
1. Eating all meals in a dining hall is both very convenient and very intimidating
2. Showering is much more of an ordeal than it used to be (shower caddies?! SHAVING?!).
3. All of the upperclassmen, even sophomores, seem so much older…
4. People only seem to own Bean Boots, Chacos, and Birkenstocks
5. Laundry is more complicated than I ever imagined it would be
6. My roommate has eaten more popcorn in the past three weeks than I thought was possible
7. Having class spaced throughout the day rather than all at once is both better and worse (less classes per day, more time for napping and procrastinating)
8. Adjusting to living essentially alone doesn’t take nearly as much time as you would think