So you’re off to college. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably got dreams of perfectly coordinated Pinterest worthy decorations and sleepovers with the girls on your hall. Honey, I am not trying to burst your bubble, but it’s time for a hint of a reality check. Here are the top six things I and my friends wish we had known before moving into "That Horrendous Freshman Dorm."

1. Don’t get a single room. I can 100% say that my freshman experience would not have been the same without a roommate. Even if you aren’t best friends and attached at the hip around campus, this girl is going to be the one who sees your good, bad, and ugly. She’s the one who’ll be there for you at 2:00am to vent over that boy and motivate you on that essay that’s due tomorrow at 9:00am. Sure, everyone has a few quirks to be put up with, and of course you’re going to miss your personal space at some points. But don’t let that keep you from having an open mind and sharing that little piece of home away from home.
2. It can get loud up in here. They say New York is the city that never sleeps? If whoever said that could have seen my Crappy Freshman Dorm, the saying would have probably been changed. Between parties down the hall, jam sessions, and people littering the halls trying to finish homework as their roommate sleeps, there is very rarely a dull moment in the hall. Yes, this can be a great thing if you’re a social butterfly who loves always being active, but be warned that if you’re quieter or prefer more alone time, you’ll have to adapt a bit. Headphones optional.
3. Be prepared to prepare for your shower. At least at my Crappy Freshman Dorm, community style showers are not to be taken lightly. They’re literally bathroom stalls with a white plastic shower curtain. Sometimes the water from the adjacent shower puddles over into yours. The walls feel weird and gave me the same kind of creeps that I get when I brush by a spider web. In short, no frills, and definitely not fun. To make life a ton easier, invest in a quality shower caddy that can either hang on the hook outside the stall and hold everything you need without tipping over onto the floor (yep this happened, on multiple occasions, oops). Also a container of some sort to store your caddy in so you don’t leave a water ring on your dresser (yep this also happened, oops).
4. Command hooks are iffy. The walls are a weird painted cinderblock texture, so your chances with command hooks for hanging towels, frames, canvases, and wooden letters are pretty 50/50. For some reason, regular command strips work much better, or command velcro strips. Also I read a thing on Pinterest that if you use painters tape on the section of wall you want to stick stuff too, you can then use hot glue on top of the tape and make everything super secure, and leave you with only removing the tape at the end of the year! Haven’t tried it yet, but you can bet I’ll put it to the test this year.
5. Boys. Lord bless them. Girls with brothers, how did you survive? I’m an only child and I’ve never lived in this close of proximity to these strange creatures. They leave their things everywhere (Yes. Everywhere. The halls. The “girls only” bathrooms. The laundry room. You name it). They’re loud. They run down the halls -- sometimes to literally chase after girls -- and scream while doing it. Girls with brothers may already be more acquainted to male living habits, but for me and several of my friends, it was a weird and unexpected dose of reality.
6. You’ll grow to love this beautiful mess and miss it the second you leave. These memories are golden. You’ll become best friends with some of the girls, won’t talk to some, and may not even know names of some. But there is definitely something to be said for living with a huge group of girls and celebrating, cruising, and commiserating through freshman year together and it’s such a memorable experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

PS: It may not be Pinterest come to life, but it IS possible to conceal the weird walls. Be creative with canvases and colorful bedspreads, and you're golden.