Being away from my dorm for a weekend retreat made me experience a sensation I had never known. While away, I actually began to miss my dorm. I have grown to call my dorm home, and upon returning I felt the urge to exalt “dorm sweet dorm.” Well, maybe not that much. However, I do feel that dorms get a bad rap when, in reality, the dorm experience is one of the most fulfilling elements of college life. Dorms offer friendship, excitement, and immediate bonds with people you would never have imagined being a part of your life. So, if you are able to make it past the disturbing sounds, smells, and physical aspects of a dorm that leave you less than enticed, you can grow to love your dorm and experience the 7 best things.

1. Freedom

One of the best elements of living in a dorm is the sensation of freedom that you are able to experience right away. Although it was overwhelming at first for me, I soon began to learn that college was much different than anything I have ever known. No one was making any decisions for me anymore. In my head, I would wrap my mind around the endless possibilities surrounding my newfound freedom. “I could literally eat lucky charms for every meal,” rushes through my mind every time I enter the cafeteria. However, if I get a salad, I feel as if I have conquered the adult world on a whole new level. In conclusion, freedom is great, scary, and something to cherish.

2. Beliefs and Values

Experiencing the world for the first time through your own eyes allows for a change in beliefs, values, and perspective. At home, it is easy for your views and perspectives to be shaped by who you are surrounded by and your family. However, at college, amidst an amalgam of religions, race, nationalities, and those from across the world, finding your own people and the creeds which you seek to live by find their way naturally into your life. When I first came to college, I felt that it would be difficult to find those who shared my beliefs politically, religiously, and regarding an overall outlook on life. Little did I know that those around me would shape me into becoming a better and newer version of myself altogether.

3. SO. MANY. PEOPLE.

Dorms are crowded. Anytime I leave to go to the shower, I find one of my hallmates engaging in some form of debauchery. One of the best parts about being in the largest dorm on my campus is finally accepting that you could care less about your appearance. Jumping from room to room with my classic big t-shirt and matted hair in a bun has become a standard part of my evenings here at Davidson. There is a liberating element to finding a community that doesn’t care about their outward appearance with one another.

4. Responsibility and Accomplishments

With college comes responsibility. Mentally I prepared myself for the workload, club commitments, and errands I would have to do on a weekly basis. Although accomplishing all the things I have to get done is tiresome, the feeling of having completed a load of work on your own is the best sensation known to man. Throughout the piece, I have reiterated that “adulting” is a difficult task for me. Luckily, I am on the same ship as many other freshman girls on my hall attempting to figure out life on our own.

5. The Lessons You Learn

Making mistakes is a facet of college I have learned to accept. Luckily, by making mistakes I have learned how to confide in friends, face my struggles head first, and not to worry too much about the consequences once an action has happened. Rather than focusing on the amassing deadlines passed, insuing tests, and interactions I could have lived without, I have learned to accept the days as they come. In my first weeks in college, I have learned that pizza only takes 30 seconds to microwave (not 3 minutes), that freshman fifteen is real and must be fought, and that you’ll rely on your friends like they’re your family.

6. Late Night Jam Sessions

Nothing beats the intimate moments you share with your friends. Across the country, jam sessions in dorms are occurring at every moment. Nothing quite brings a group of girls together like screaming High School Musicaljams, Taylor, and Queen Bey. Our dorm has a wide variety of girls of different backgrounds, beliefs, and hometowns; however, nothing quite brings us together like dancing and shouting lyrics standing on couch cushions in our lounge.

7. Unbreakable Bonds

As cliché as it sounds, the bonds you make while living in a dorm are the some of the strongest bonds you will make in the beginning of college. The girls in my dorm have seen me at my best and worst moments. Many of them have even shared the worst moments with me. From drama with the opposite sex to Davidson “hell weeks” where assignments pile up, we have to be here for each other. Without each other, living in a dorm would be pretty rough. Our continued struggles and successes make our dorm- dorm sweet dorm.