This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.
For some people, living in a dorm is an experience that they can avoid. However, for the general populace, we all have to suffer through at least a year of dorm living. All those horror stories you hear from older friends or older siblings aren’t all true. Here are some of the good and bad things we all start to get used to while living in a residence hall.
1. Having a roommate
2. Walking to the bathroom in your towel and shower caddy
3. Waiting in line to use the bathroom or shower
4. Hearing the hand dryer in the bathroom go off at 3 a.m.
5. Hearing a mashup of different types of music all over your floor
6. Being extra careful not to wake up your roommate when you’re getting ready for morning classes
7. Being extra careful not to wake up your roommate when you want to use the bathroom at 3 a.m.
8. Having a stash of food in your room because you’re too lazy to walk to the commons
9. Having so much stuff in your dorm that you could basically survive a zombie apocalypse
10. Being able to hear snippets of your neighbors’ conversations through the paper-thin walls
11. Being able to find someone else to procrastinate homework with
12. Having latenight movie sessions because you’re too lazy to go to a party
13. Always having someone (from your floor) to go to a party with
14. Being able to ask around the floor for food, ice or medicine you don’t have
15. Constantly going to someone else’s room because it’s more comfortable than yours
16. Constantly going to someone else’s room because they have a better TV than you do
17. Constantly going to someone else’s room because they have a Netflix account
18. Having someone constantly come to your room because you have everything a person could possibly need
19. Saying ‘hi’ to at least one person whenever you’re waiting for the elevator
20. Hearing singing and gossip from the shower stalls in the bathroom
21. Stocking up on cartons of bottled water because you don’t like unfiltered water
22. Feeling weird asking your roommate for permission to invite friends over
23. Feeling weird when your roommate brings someone you don’t know to your room
24. Getting off the elevator on your floor after classes and instantly knowing who else is on the floor based on the music or loud voices
25. Being woken up in the morning by people who are in the hallway
26. Always going to breakfast in the commons with at least two other people on your floor
27. Being used to the loudness in the hallways on gamedays
In the end, always remember there is always a silver lining to a supposedly “bad” situation! Stay safe, and have fun collegiettes!