There are a lot of changes to get accustomed to when you go away to college. Your parents aren’t around, the food isn’t always great, and your daily schedule will shift dramatically.
One of the most significant adjustments you’ll have to make, though, will involve getting comfortable with dorm life. Unless you commute to school or opt for an off-campus apartment right off the bat, for at least the first few semesters – and, perhaps, the entire undergrad experience – you’ll have to learn to live in a small space, possibly with a stranger, under an administration that can’t seem to decide whether it wants your lifestyle to resemble summer camp or Animal House.
Once you get used to it, dorm life can be fun, but before you get to that point, you’ll have to learn to deal with. . .
Annoying Neighbors
Growing up, you may not have had the most pleasant neighbors, but odds are good that most of them were adults. Even if they did engage in loud, annoying behavior from time-to-time, for the most part, they probably didn’t cause too much trouble for you.
In a dorm, you have to understand that the people with whom you’re sharing a building are all young, excited, and probably drunk half the time. Yes, if they create too great a disturbance, you can complain to your RA, but few people want to be “that” neighbor. As such, you’ll have to deal with the fact that some people simply believe that the middle of the night on a Tuesday is the ideal time for a dance party.
And, of course, those people will always live directly above you.
Activities
Though few will admit it, many college students are nervous about being away from home. In order to help them get over their homesickness, most RA’s will organize regular activities in the building, inviting everyone to attend.
On the one hand, if you feel you’ll benefit from participating in “Let’s All Make Pancakes In The Lounge Night!” or “Making Pancakes Was So Much Fun Last Time We’re Also Doing It Again!” such activities may indeed help you connect with your new friends in a low-key manner.
On the other hand, if you’d prefer to spend your free time doing absolutely anything else, you’ll frequently have to come up with excuses for not joining in the “fun” when your RA knocks on your door every night.
Fire Drills
Hey, some aspects of high school don’t go away. The difference being, in high school, fire drills were a fun excuse to get out of class for a few minutes. In college, they’re an annoyance that forces you out of bed in the middle of winter.
Laundry
Most dorms come equipped with a few laundry machines, but certainly not enough to handle the needs of all of their students. As such, you need to develop an intuition about when the machines will not be in use, so you can make sure you actually have clean clothes to wear to class.
Usually, you’ll discover that those magic hours when the laundry room is free just happen to be those magic hours when you’d rather be sleeping. Funny how that works.
No Space
It’s a cliché, but it’s the truth: Dorms are so small that a hobbit wouldn’t want to live in one. While you will, eventually, get used to living in such a tiny space, it’s not going to be fun for a while.
Granted, the fact that you won’t have any room to move around will convince you to leave your dorm more often than not, perhaps leading you to make new friends on campus, but when you just feel like spending some relaxing time inside, you’ll eventually have to accept the fact that you can’t do much besides sit around.
