Move-In Day: The day of excitement and apprehension.
I remember walking into my shoebox of a room and still being so excited for what was to come. Little did I know that living in the dorms would give me some of the toughest challenges, but greatest experiences, of all time.
Growing up, I now realize that I was so spoiled. I grew up never sharing a huge room and queen bed, not to mention a bathroom just a few steps away. I would have never realized this if I hadn't moved into the dorms just a few months ago. Now having to share a room with another person and learning how to fit into a room not much bigger than us has been the biggest learning experience for me. It never stops to surprise me how every night I sleep in a twin bed in the same room as someone who was just a stranger not too long ago.
I think I can speak for many that at first dorm life seemed like a summer camp, but as the weeks and months rolled on, it wasn't as fun as it first sought out to be. The first few days, everyone scrambled to get to know each other like we didn't have the whole year to do so. Not going to lie, it was hard trying to remember around 50 names. The first few weeks were when you left your door open for people to introduce themselves, and when the person blasting music across the hall was cool and when you stayed up all night just for fun. As the weeks rolled by and classes started, you closed your door just for privacy. Now the person blasting music across the hall is a disturbance and now is when you ache for a good night sleep. Summer camp soon becomes real life.
Probably the greatest change was the bathroom situation. On move-in day, I just hoped to be close to the restroom. The exact opposite had occurred, just my luck. Walking to the bathroom felt like a mile long and sometimes it still does. Not only that, but having to share only five toilet stalls and shower stalls with more than a handful of girls has been, to say the least, an experience. Ironically, you begin to have a favorite toilet stall and shower stall. So when your favorite stall is occupied, you feel like your world has been turned upside down. While looking for another stall to use, it felt like an episode of "Survivor," but after awhile, you get used to the changes. The restrooms would be unbearable without a few important people. So, I would like to give a huge shoutout to the janitors who clean these bathrooms. In the famous words of NBA basketball player Kevin Durant, "You're the real MVP."
Despite the dorm's shortcomings, I would not trade this experience for the world. I have learned many lessons by living with different people and different personalities. This journey has given me so many important virtues such as patience, respect and integrity. One of the things I am most grateful for is this dorm has given me lifelong friends. Having them has allowed me not to go through this experience alone. These dorms connect all of us. It doesn't matter where you come from or what you are studying because everyone is going through the same thing within the walls that enclose us. We are all college kids trying to find ourselves and what we want to do for the rest of our lives.
So, I believe everyone should experience the dorm because it takes you out of your comfort zone. It exposes you to new experiences and new people. Through your journey, you learn lessons that you can carry with you for the rest of your life. You gain so much life experience and stories that you will be telling your friends, children and grandchildren. You should always accept new things with open arms because you never know how much you can grow from the experiences that are ahead.
