Freshman year has slipped right through my fingers. Since move in day back in August, it has been a series of learning new names, gaining new responsibilities, and becoming a different person. It’s crazy to think that this time last year I was a high school senior preparing to graduate and now I have already finished one year of college. Looking back on my year I would easily say that my freshman year was only as great as it has been thanks to my residence hall.
Dear freshman dorm,
First, it’s hard to say what part of you has been so great. You have given me a home away from home in a shoebox worth of space. I was lucky enough to get arguably the best freshman dorm here at Rowan. I moved in two days early and being here by myself was nerve-wracking as I dreaded that everyone on my floor would be awful, that my roommates would be from hell, and the worst of it all; I dreaded that I had made the wrong decision. Thankfully, none of that was true.
When it comes down to roommates it seems as if they’re either great or the ones that make you wish you commuted. My process of selecting my roommates was without a doubt random. I met my first roommate at orientation and decided to live with her because we had the same taste in music. The second roommate was assigned a few weeks prior to that. I won’t say my roommates and I are the Three Musketeers, but we do get along turning the room into a sanctuary. Thank you, dorm room, for giving me two friends right off that bat that I could talk to whenever the need struck.
I’d like to give a huge shout out to my physical dorm for giving me the greatest hall I could ever ask for. The fact that my best friend lived down the hall was a blessing, and the rest of the hall was full of amazing people with whom I would not be friends, had it not been for our living arrangements. At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t stand my suitemates but by the second semester, the thought and preparations for leaving them actually hurts. Our floor is infamous for our nighttime ‘hallway hangouts’ that annoy every RA on duty after quiet hours. Nonetheless, having such a great floor has been super beneficial and given me fifty more friends.
Every freshman residence experience is different. Some never leave their dorms, some are honorary members of another floor, and some can’t wait to be off their floor. Either way, I would not have had such a great year without my freshman dorm. I actually don’t think I would have even stayed on campus anymore. My freshman dorm has become an irreplaceable aspect of my freshman year and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks for making my first year a great one!