Growing up, I always thought the college experience included living in the dorm. Dorms signified freedom and adulthood to me. After moving in, I learned how truly lucky I was. I had a great room, a great roommate, great people down the hall—it seemed like it would be an amazing experience.

I loved my roommates and I got along with them very well. They were some of the greatest people I could've possibly roomed with and I am truly happy that I got to tackle freshman year with them. Although I had the best people around, I was crammed into a 10 by 12-foot room with another person. I grew up with my own room, so it was a change for me to live with someone else. Not to mention, I had very few of my belongings and I had to make a cold, white room my home.

Every day, I have to take time for myself. I have always been this way. This could be walking alone, sitting alone, or reading a book, but I need privacy just to regroup. So whenever I would get overwhelmed and want some alone time, there was no where in the building I could go without running into people. Dorms house a lot of people. While that's great for making friends, it's hard when you need space to recollect yourself.

It was also scary for me. I felt like I couldn't cry, or that I couldn't be angry or upset. I felt like I always had to be happy, and that's just not realistic. Not everyone feels this way, but in my experience, I felt like I always had to be "on." This became second nature to me that I began feeling mortified when I did show emotion. When you force yourself to bottle up every emotion you have, except happiness, you inevitably will explode.

It's hard having your belongings split between two places. I would get dressed for a big night and would realize the shoes I wanted to wear were at my house. When I would be home for the weekend, I would realize I left my favorite necklace at school. Most people do well with that, but I was always confused and frustrated with where all my belongings were. I always felt disoriented and like I had no clue what was happening.

The communal bathroom situation was less than desirable. While we never had a "pitch perfect" bathroom ordeal (that really never happens), we did have people who "went number 2" in the showers and toilets that flooded down the hallway. Which is probably even more disgusting and equally as horrifying.

Dorms are amazing to meet people, to get experience living on your own, and to network with people of various majors. You don't need to live in a dorm for the college experience. Maybe you'll love it, maybe you'll hate it. But don't be upset if you realize that it's just not for you.