If there was anything that I feared the most as an incoming freshman, I think it was the entire aspect of the rooming situation. Most of my fears ceased after going random, but there was the lurking fear of being placed into a forced triple. I had heard the numerous horror stories from friends from other schools who were shoved in a box with two other girls. And the horror stories did not end there, as most involved two of the roommates being much closer with each other than with the other one. However, I was optimistic for my random forced triple situation.
There is only one positive aspect that comes to my mind when it comes to having two roommates: cost. Bentley does offer a cheaper option for a forced triple.
Apart from cost, the many negatives outweigh the positives. For starters, move-in day presented our room with our first challenge. We had planned to draw straws to choose who got which bed. Unfortunately, we all arrived at different times and this was an impossibility. We also had a revelation that if we had all arrived at the same time, our families would not have been able to fit in the room with all our belongings. The other struggle was that we were the problem children on move-in day. We requested to change the room set up from having a one bunked bed and one lofted bed to having three lofted beds, as we felt that this arrangement would give us all our own personal space. If this wasn’t bad enough, we then had to rearrange the beds several times due to functionality issues, including not being able to climb into bed and the constant fear of hitting the fire alarm.
Apart from the complications with move-in day, with three girls living in one room, there is a massive lack of space. This may not necessarily be a problem for boys, but with all the “stuff” girls bring– from hair products, to make up, to clothes– this becomes an issue. In my room, there is barely any space to put extra makeshift drawers and no convenient empty floor space. The other disadvantage in terms of space is that I do not have any space under my bed. Most people have the luxury of storing shoes, backpacks, and other items under their bed, but I have my desk under my bed. Due to this, I currently have some of my possessions being stored in other rooms on my floor.
Another disadvantage is having a lofted bed. It is a struggle to climb up it every day of the week, and injuring my knee did not make it any easier. In addition, due to the lack of ladders that Bentley supplies, my roommates and I have to think of creative ways in which to climb up into our beds. For example, one of my roommates has resulted to using the windowsill as means to climb into bed. Having high beds makes many activities difficult, such as doing homework in bed. I personally cannot even sit up straight in my bed, so this isn’t even an option.
At the end of the day, however, I am thankful that I was placed into the forced triple that I was. It allowed me to bond with one of my roommates in ways that would not have happened otherwise. It taught how to live with others, to be a considerate roommate, and got me out of my room to meet people on my floor (who I can now call my Bentley Family). Although living in a forced triple presented some difficulties, I would not have asked for any other living situation for my first year at Bentley. Without it, I would not have formed the relationships that I did.