How to survive dorm life

Dorm living can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. Dorms tend to be loud, and full of enthusiastic people prone to staying up until the wee hours of the morning. Dorm rooms are also smaller than most people are used to. So here are some tips to surviving dorm living.

Bring some homey touches when you move into your dorm. Chances are you’ll be homesick at some point and things that remind you of home will be just the thing for pulling  you out of the homesickness funk. However, this does not mean you bring your entire life. You do not have the room to bring all of the things in your room back home to the dorms. Also, you don’t need at least half the things you have in your room. Which brings me to my next point, try minimalism. You can Google ways on how to become a minimalist and therefore reduce the amount of things you have over all.

You will, more than likely need more storage than you think you need. So bring more than you think is truly reasonable, because if you’re anything like me and my roommate you will hoard food. Along with this, prepare in advance. Dorm rooms do not come equiped with fridges, mircowaves, or the all sacred coffeemaker. Communicate with your roommate(s) to see who is bringing what. Also consider lofting your beds to create extra room for things like a futon.

Each floor has a community kitchen and bathrooms. Do your part to keep them clean! You have a cleaning lady of course but they are not always there. You may also want to consider buying Poo-Pourri. Think about it, community bathrooms and MUC food. Along with that there is recycling in the kitchens, however unless you are over 21, don’t recycle your booze bottles. It’s lovely, and I applaud your consideration for the enviornment, but education over environment.

Also, lock your doors every night. You never know when a drunk human being will stumble into your room. At 3:00 a.m. it can be quite the fright!

If you are a light sleeper you may also wish to invest in a pair of earplugs. People tend to be noisy far past quiet hours, and if you want any semblance of eight hours of sleep, bring earplugs. Be prepared to see strange sights none the less. College can be a strange and beautiful place, so try not to judge and just go with the flow.

And if everything ever seems absolutely horrible and awful just remember, dorm living is only temporary.