From the time I accepted my admission to UNCG, until the second week of classes, I planned out my every decision for college, starting with my perfect dorm room. Pinterest provided me with lots of inspiration for room themes. From boho, to preppy, to minimalistic there were images for everything. It was so much to take in, and all of the pictures I looked at were unattainable at the end of the day – too bad I did not realize that sooner. I nearly went crazy trying to copy others’ styles that were not my own. I began to question my own sense of style even though I normally think of this as the one thing I am truly confident about. Was my style flowers, puppies, and other knick-knacks? Was that too weird or not adult enough? Planning my dorm went from being an exciting opportunity to make this space my own to an attempt at impressing others and getting a compliment or two. For some reason, I thought that the perfect dorm room would somehow make me a better person.
In the end, I came to my senses. I choose to go with my own style. Looking back, superficial things like that really do not matter. I do not think I or anyone gained any friends, or more importantly, learned better from having a cool dorm room. I focused on trying to make it more like some else’s home but in reality, the room already had everything I needed to be successful. Everything else was for me to enjoy, making it feel more like home.