Tips for New College Dormers!
- Don’t play your music loudly. You have people living on your sides, below you, and / or above you. You don’t know if they are napping, studying, or what. Even if they are just chilling, they don’t wanna hear your fucking music. Don’t be that asshole.
- Don’t stomp or make a lot of noise if there is a floor below you. My suitemates and I have complained to the RAs about this numerous times. Nobody likes when a suite or room is super loud and stomping around. Please respect the fact that there are other people living right below you.
- You don’t have to dress super nice every single day. Dress nice your first week or so but then relax. I mean, don’t look like a slob, of course. But, trust me, upperclassmen dormers are the ones you see in sweatpants and little make up. Unless you have to give presentations or the like, you don’t have to dress up. Also going to the dining hall / cafe? Go in your pjs, nobody gives a shit. You live here after all.
- Don’t schedule your classes back to back if you have the free time! I don’t have work til the evening so I personally tend to space out my classes. Living on campus gives a great luxury of just relaxing between classes. Check your work for your next class, take a nap, watch some tv, whatever is good. Back to back classes could stress you out like crazy, don’t do that to yourself.
- If you can, put money on your ID card. Okay, idk if all colleges do this, but most tend to allow you to have money credit on your ID card. This can be used in the campus stores and, the best part, THE LAUNDRY ROOM. Really saves you the hassle of getting quarters each week plus, some schools have like 25 cent discounts when you use your card for laundry. Nice.
- Eating alone is okay. You won’t always have people to go eat with EVERY SINGLE DAY. So if you are hungry, go eat. Campus is home, you gotta eat.
- Stock your room. Buy snacks and easy microwave meals. Sometimes you don’t wanna get dressed and walk all the way to the dining hall. Especially weekends, so much work. Drinks, too. Usually dining halls close at like 6-8pm and don’t open til 7-8am. They also tend to close early on weekends. Buy cases of water cheap then stick em under your bed. Keep your fridge stocked. Take care of yourself.
- Go to dorm and campus events. Try to get out there and meet people. A lot of the events are really cool. Sometimes they have movie nights, or competitions, or carnivals, or whatever. It can be a bit nervous but don’t worry. For dorm events, the RAs are usually really perky and super into getting everyone involved. At school events, there are staff members (people apart of whoever is running the event) to make sure everything is safe.
- Get along with your roommate. You might not be best friends but try to be on good terms. Also, you usually get your roommate’s and suitemate’s emails before move in day so try reaching out and learning about them before hand. If you guys REALLY aren’t connecting well or even fighting, you can absolutely request a room change.
- Talk to the RAs. RAs, or Residential Advisors, are students who have applied and gone through training to manage resident students like you. They hold weekly events, break up fights, help you if you get locked out, and even talk if you are feeling depressed. They are really nice and awesome people. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them.
- Those blue security lights can save you. When you first get on campus, you might see something that looks like this all over the place. Sometimes they are black or red, but they all do the same thing. They are apart of campus security. If you are being followed or attacked on campus, go to one of these, click the button and you will be directed to an emergency line. Usually they have cameras attached to them that are being viewed back at the Campus Police Station. Please use these if you are in danger.
- You might be able stay on campus during breaks if you absolutely need to. If you are like me with a really abusive parent OR if you are a homeless student, check around for resources on campus. It’s different on every campus so I can’t list a specific organization but basically go to your housing authority and ask them for assistance. They can direct you to where you need to go to get authorization to stay on campus during breaks when the school is telling you it is mandatory to leave campus (excluding summer break). If you know other students who need this help, let them know.
This is all coming from someone going into their third year of dorming lol my campus feels like my home. If you can think of anything else, please add on! Stay safe!
