Dorm life. People are either extremely excited or dreading it. There quite literally is no in between. I was someone who was extremely excited to live with my roommate. I remember before my first year I printed out the layout of my dorm room that I found on the internet and planned out where my bed, dresser, desk and chair would be. That was how excited I was. I would like to shout out my amazing first year roommate Camille ‘27, who dealt with all of the craziness that I brought to the room.
Room Decoration + Amenities:
We ultimately decided to leave the room in the layout that it came in which was very amusing after all of that planning. As for decorations, we each agreed that we would have our respected side of the room and decorate on our own. This way both of our personalities would be able to shine through. We both decided that the room coordination for decoration was WAY too difficult in our eyes. We lived in McAfee our first year so the room was MASSIVE. We were able to have a full rug in the room, and if any friends slept over they had more than enough room to be able to do so. If I have one piece of advice for you incoming first years…PUT THE EXCESSIVE DECORATION DOWN. Some of you are blessed to have help moving into your dorm and moving out. I had help moving in but NOT moving out. Taking down all of that decor was the absolute bane of my existence. I was on the brink of tears taking it all down. If you take away one thing from this may it be to not over decorate your room. Do not be like first-year Chelsea. Chelsea decorated too much and brought too many clothes, so she had to air seal all of her clothes.
I learned that when sharing a room with someone, communication is the most important thing. Before moving in, we coordinated to see who was going to bring what. I bought the mini fridge that we shared. Camille bought the kettle. I bought the swiffer with the wet and dry wipes. She bought paper towels. I bought a vacuum etc… We planned ahead so we never had the same things. This way we saved space and money. We shared many things in the room and were respectful in the amount we were using each item.
My First-Year Roommate <3:
To talk about Camille as a person, she is the best first-year roommate and close friend that I could have asked for. She is patient, strong, kind, thoughtful, admirable, hard working, responsible and respectful. All of the qualities that people pray for in their first-year roommate and friend, I got so lucky because she had all of these qualities and more. I would have to go to bed very early due to my early morning swim practices, and she would be as quiet as a mouse coming into the room late at night. I never heard her come into the room. I also got terrible food poisoning one night randomly in the second semester of my first year, and she took me to the hospital and sat at my bedside from 10 PM–4AM and called my parents to let them know what was going on and keep them updated. She is always there for me when I need her the most. Even if I was sobbing sitting in my bed over a poor test score, she was always there for me. I say this with everything in me—she is the best first-year roommate and friend that I have. Seeing the way that she lives and conducts herself makes me want to be a better person. She is a role model to all. I am beyond lucky to have her in my life.
Food + Snacks:
Since the dining hall hours are quite generous with their hours, you really don’t need to buy much food or snacks. Of course, if there is a snack that you love, definitely stock up on it before coming to campus. But other things such as drinks (soda, juice, water) we have in the dining halls so you can always take it in a cup to go! I always kept a few healthy and unhealthy snacks on hand. I always had some kind of popcorn, microwaveable rice, dried seaweed to eat with the rice, and some kind of sweet snack on hand. These were purely to satisfy the late night hunger strike that would hit every night at 8 PM.
Shoes on or off?:
Some people will keep their shoes on in the room and leave them in various places in the room. Camille and I were on the same wavelength and said “absolutely not” to that idea. I had bought a boot mat for our boots when it snows to not track salt into our room. This boot mat ended up being the designated place for shoes. It sat at the doorway as soon as you walked into our room. This was how we kept our room so clean all throughout the year.
Cleaning?:
Take turns cleaning. Although I really enjoy cleaning because it is very therapeutic to me, I don’t always want to do it. Communicate with your roommate about cleaning the floors. You would be surprised how much hair is accumulated on the floors on a hardwood floor and a rug. Take turns vacuuming and swiffering. Switch off every week or every other week. And pick up the slack for your roommate if they are having a tough week and can’t find the energy to clean the floors. They would do the same for you.
Set some boundaries at the beginning of the year:
I know this can be a difficult conversation to have especially with someone you may not know all too well. But this can help decrease the amount of more uncomfortable conversations that may take place in the future. Setting boundaries and comfortability with these boundaries are two things that are so important. I remember Camille and I set a hard and fast rule that we can have friends sleep over with at least a day’s notice to your roommate. Family members are more than welcome to stay but they can’t stay for more than a weekend. Friends are welcome to hang out in the room but just be respectful of the noise level for the other roommate in the room. These are some examples of boundaries that I remember Camille and I set at the beginning of the year. We lived by these and there were no issues. We always kept each other in the loop and were respectful of each other’s boundaries/wishes.
This is some advice that I have from my first year that helped me and Camille to stay such close friends with no issues arising between the two of us. I love Camille dearly and am so thankful to have her in my life! She is the best!
Good luck First-Years!
Warmest wishes,
Chelsea <3