My first thought when I got my college acceptance letter was “AAAAHHH!” My second thought was, “Where am I going to live?” I chose a college that was a mere hour’s drive away from home but as a daily commute? Way too far. I’d seen movies. Living on campus couldn’t be anything but fun, right? Wrong…well, partly wrong. I was pleasantly surprised in some aspects and pretty taken aback by others.
1.) Roommates
Expectation: We’ll be best friends and have parties and share secrets and WHEEE!
Reality: One of them is my best friend and I can’t tell you two things about the others.
You can’t just throw a group of random girls together in a small living space and expect them to get along perfectly. It just doesn’t happen. Especially when one tiny bathroom is shared between all of them. But even if you don’t become immediate besties, being able to coexist with different kinds of people is a valuable life skill.
2.) Dining hall
Expectation: There will be a variety of good food and I’ll eat healthy and well-balanced meals.
Reality: The food is mediocre at best and cereal will become your new best friend.
The first month of eating at the all-you-can-eat dining hall is awesome. There are so many choices and it’s all so good. But you soon realize that there really aren’t all that many choices and the quality has been steadily decreasing all year. And not being able to control how your food is cooked definitely doesn’t help to hold back the Freshman 15.
3.) Space
Expectation: It will be totally cramped and I’ll have to sleep in bunkbeds.
Reality: There’s a surprising amount of room to live comfortably and with personal space.
You head to move-in day with all your Pinterest-suggested space-saving hacks and realize that your room is actually a lot more spacious than you thought it would be. Even with all your cute storage bins and your mini-fridge, there’s still room to breathe.
4.) The R.A.
Expectation: They’ll be a total buzzkill and ruin all your fun.
Reality: They actually are very nice and you really only see them when they’re passing out candy or other treats during finals week.
In movies, the resident assistant is the bitter party-pooper who brings all the parties to a screeching halt. Honestly, most R.A.’s just want to be there for you and make sure your time spent living on campus is as comfortable and easy as possible. They don’t really expect more than a “hello” when you see them around campus.
5.) Beds
Expectation: They will be hard as a rock and impossible to make comfortable.
Reality: With a simple foam mattress pad, they are surprisingly comfortable.
I can’t recommend memory foam mattress pads enough. You can find great sales on them and they make a world of a difference to the bed. Especially if you’re used to a high-quality bed at home; mattress pads are a simple fix to a potentially insomnia-inducing problem.
The dorms definitely aren’t rainbows and butterflies all year but they are an experience that I would recommend everyone try to take advantage of for at least a semester during their college experience. You learn a lot about yourself, how to compromise, and how to get along and coexist with many different kinds of people. There’s little to no privacy, the food is mediocre at best, and the wads of hair you’ll find in the bathroom will make you question your whole life. But the friendships you do make and the life skills you gain make it all worthwhile.