If you’re about to start your first year of college and you’re reading this and wondering if the dorms are for you, I’m going to answer that in the opening sentence of this blog post, and tell you, “YES! You SHOULD!”. As someone who works in the Residential Department of a university, I am able to witness firsthand the significance of the dorms and what it does for students that are entering the early stages of their adult lives. In this post, I am going to break down some key aspects as to why I believe the dorms are very important.
Transition into Adulthood
One of the most important things that the dorms teach students is to be responsible. Living in the dorms means that you will no longer be living with your parents, or any guardians. No one will be on your case telling you to do your homework or to study. No one will be there to wash your dirty, smelly clothes (except maybe your dormates if they had enough of smelling your nasty odor). No one will be there making sure you’re making the right decisions. No one will be there to hold your hand and coddle you and you will literally have to learn to be an adult. Although this might all sound stressful, these are all things that you will have to learn eventually and the dorms will help you ease into this new lifestyle that you will eventually have to adapt, whether you live in the dorms or not. The dorms provide many resources that make the transition easier. The dorms usually provide a meal plan that is prepaid, so all you have to do is remember to make time to go to the school dining hall to grab your meals. The dorms also usually have laundry machines relatively close to your room, making it easier for you to take care of washing your clothes. The dorms will most likely have an RA (Residential Advisor/Assistant) as well. Although these RA’s will not be on your case and making sure you complete all your tasks for the day (because who would want that?), they will be there to help assist you with any questions or concerns that you may have. The main purpose of their job is to help you to the best of their abilities, however they can. The main way that the dorms help you transition into adulthood is the fact that you will have many other students from all over the state, or possibly the US or even the World, that are there to help and guide you as they learn to help and guide themselves. Chances are, most of the students that you will meet in the dorms are probably going to be in the same boat as you and they will also be learning how to become an adult. This usually leads to lifelong friendships being formed, and it is always beautiful to see!
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
One of the important skills that the dorms will teach you is how to get out of your comfort zone. This kind of goes hand in hand with the first point of this post, but what I mean by this is that you will have to learn how to be social and get comfortable living alongside hundreds of other students. When you move into the dorms, you’re moving into a building that houses a lot of people. These are people that you will have to learn to live with.
You will have to learn how to balance out your fun with your new roommates and make sure it doesn’t affect your academics. You will have to learn to be cordial and respectful to the students in the dorms that you don’t get along with, even if the look of their faces makes you sick to your stomach. You will have to learn to follow and respect the rules of the dorms. There are many new things that you will have to learn to live with, but these things will all be beneficial to your life, long after college.
Support System
Another reason that I believe the dorms are important is because it builds very strong friendships. On top of your new living situation, your first year of college is a very unique experience that can be tough in all areas of your life, whether that’s in your academics, relationships, health, family, etc. More responsibilities just naturally begin to be put on your plate, and this can be tough for young adults who have to learn to take care of all this by themselves. Although living in the dorms won’t eliminate all of these problems for you, they will make it easier for you to handle because of the strong support system that you will have just by living in the dorms. When times get tough, these are the people that will be there for you. Every single year, I see the whole floor of a dorm building come together to help a student that is going through a tough time. It’s always sad to see students going through difficult times, especially when I feel like I don’t have the answers to help them, but it is always beautiful to see the whole floor of students coming together for the same cause of making sure their fellow dorm-mates are okay.
Living in the dorms is truly a great experience. An experience that you may never get to do again. It is a place where you will have a lot of fun and make a lot of really great memories, all while becoming a part of a loving family. I hope this gave you an insight as to why the dorms are important.