When I used to tell people who had lived in Wallace Residence Center that I’d decided to live there for freshman year, I was usually answered in one of two ways: “I loved it,” or “I hated it.”
I can speak from experience that dorm life is much less black and white than people will try to lead you to believe. The only way to find out what you’ll be telling people in a year is to experience it for yourself. I am in no way master of dorm life, but what I can do is share experiences and let you learn from my mistakes.
Karter Krasselt | Argonaut
For me, dorm life was a big change from how I had lived previously, but I enjoyed every minute of my independence. This is not to say there weren’t things I disliked about the dorms, because if there weren’t, I’d be living there again this year.
The biggest downside of the dorms, for me, was the price. Because I’m paying for most of college by myself, dorm fees coupled with the required meal plan all but drained my bank account. This leads me to my first piece of advice for dorm-goers: manage your money.
That late night run to Taco Bell may seem nice at the time, but when your bank statement comes in the mail and your weight statement comes on the scale, you might not think you made such a great decision. If you’re rollin’ in the dough, this tip doesn’t apply to you.
My second piece of advice for future dorm tenants is to stay on schedule with your laundry. Nobody likes the guy who’s using all of the washing machines at once because he finally decided to wash his nasty clothes after wearing them six times each. Save yourself the stress of spending a whole day doing laundry and do it once a week. You won’t regret it.
Next is probably the most important tip I can give to any first year student:
Get out, get involved and meet new people. You may think you have all the friends you need in the comfort of your dorm, but you’re going to enjoy the freshman experience a lot more if you’re constantly meeting new people.
There are thousands of students on campus, so statistically they’re probably not all terrible. It took me too long to learn this, but once I did, I enjoyed college a heck of a lot more.
Overall, the biggest tip I can give is to keep your stress level low. This is done by staying on top of school work, and staying busy. Treat campus as your home, and your dorm as your bedroom. Chances are you won’t even notice how small it is if you don’t spend all day sitting around in it.
Karter Krasselt can be reached at [email protected]