Those of us who made the decision to live on campus, to get the so called “real university experience,” soon start to realize within the first few weeks that the idea of university living that we’ve seen portrayed in the media will soon fade away, and reality will set in. You will soon realize living on campus isn’t quite what you were expecting. Although, the one good thing that comes out of this is that we all can relate to each other, and what we may be going through. After talking to some friends, and other students who live on campus, I have compiled a list of 10 struggles that all of us UVic dorm residents can relate to!
1. You become very aware of all the sex you aren’t having.
You already live with these people and share most of your personal space with them, the last thing you need is to be a part of that “private” time as well. Unfortunately, living on campus means the walls and ceilings are thin and hearing your neighbor upstairs getting it on isn’t something that is very easy to avoid. Luckily, that’s where a distracting playlist or earbuds come in handy!
2. Everyone can hear you when you have sex.
Since we’ve already covered the poor souls not getting any action, for those of us who are, it’s not always very comfortable knowing that all the people on your floor can hear every dirty detail of your sex life, but there’s not much you can do about that besides trying to tone down the volume a bit.
3. Living in a small space can be stuffy as hell.
It is guaranteed that you will become a little stir crazy after a while of living in these tiny 3.0m x 3.5m rooms. You also learn how to live within organized chaos- those itsy bitsy rooms are nowhere close to big enough to keep all of your junk. But you just have to live with it!
4. Doing your laundry is a total hassle.
Of course this always happens when you really need your clothes cleaned the most, but those of us living in a dorm know there’s always that one asshole that thinks it’s okay to start doing laundry and then leave their clothes just sitting in the washers or dryers for eternity. On top of that, it’s also expensive! The machines are faulty and it always takes multiple cycles just to get your clothes dry, and let’s be real, we’re all poor here and don’t have any money coming out of our ass to be able to afford that!
5. You come to find that the “freshman 15” is not a myth.
There are so many varieties of greasy goodies that are so accessible at all hours of the day. For some of us on campus, this can be very dangerous! It’s almost too convenient! that food you’ve been longing for, well it’s most likely that the local on campus venues can help you out on feeding that craving…
6. There is no such thing as quiet hours.
The dorm buildings may claim to have them, but any student living on campus can testify that quiet hours are complete bullshit. Whether it’s those girls having a dance party in their room at 2:00am, the students drunkenly attempting to enter the building late at night after “wine wednesdays” or “tequila thursdays”, or even just that one chick that thinks she’s freaking Mariah Carey singing as loud as possible in the shower. No matter the situation, dorms are NEVER quiet, but we must learn to adapt.
7. Shared washrooms are just as disgusting as you would expect.
Dorms are breeding grounds for germs. Everyone shares everything, and as soon as one person gets sick, we all get sick. That’s not even the beginning of it. Loose hair along the walls of the shower, the clogged sinks, and the rotten food that people who are too lazy to take their garbage out leave in the communal trash bins. The best way to solve this problem, is to just do your part at keeping things as tidy as possible.
8. You will never poop in peace.
I shit you not, taking a crap in the serene and quiet privacy of your own washroom is a privilege you never recognized until now. Living on campus, the communal washrooms can be a struggle, but you eventually have to learn to get over the embarrassment of pooping in the presence of others. We’re all human; you gotta do what you gotta do.
9. Social life? More like hermit life.
We all have this preconceived idea that living in a dorm will bring on endless social opportunities, which I guess in some cases is true. You do meet a few great people that could potentially become life long friends, but with all the demanding school work you have, it’s a lot nicer binge watching your favorite show on netflix when you have any free time.
10. The awkwardness of hooking up with someone who also lives on campus.
We’ve all been there! The uncomfortable encounters in the dining halls, the eye contact you make when heading home from class knowing you’ve seen each other in very different settings.Unfortunately, that’s just the reality of it! If you are a smart student and decide you don’t want to run into someone you’ve hooked up with afterwards, it’s probably a good idea to go for someone off campus to make things 1000x less awkward.
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