memories of living in dorm

[sagitel]

i just got accepted to a college, its prestigious, good and free.
sound great? yeah. one problem though its in another city 6 hours away from my hometown.
the problem is that me and my mother are very close and this is hard. also i have 0 experience living on my own (i have never washed my clothes apart from underwear for example). so naturally im freaked out.
this is the part where you come in escapist. tell me memories of you in college, living in dorms.

also any tips are appreciated

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well first thing first, asked you mum to show you have to wash and iron your cloth, cook food and etc!

For tips, start seaching online on how to shop for the best food deals and how to manage living a student life and etc.

Also when it come to roommates, that depends if on your social skills and if their personality matches yours or whatever it is to help you to get along with them. Just pray they ain't dickheads!

As for my experience, living on my own at Uni was one of the greatest moment in my life! It just the feeling of proper independance (well mostly since I was relying on my dad cooked meats) that was so great about Uni! I eat what I want and sleep when I want and best of all, no interference from my parent.

Granted it was mostly a plesant experience. The first and final years, my roommate weren't around that often (two other guys) so I felt I had the place for myself and best of all I had excellent sleep! Second year however, not so much.
On that year I decided to lived in another different student dorm which was basically I was living with 11 other people. I got along with 5 people at the most and another 2 I was ok with, oh and there was one guy I never really saw properly (I only saw him a couple of times). That leave with the final 3 and oh boy they were annoying. Ok to be fair, they were ok at first but I came to learn their activity were the oppersite to my. Basically they were the type who stayed up all night on weekdays and one time they had a drunk water fight at the kitchen and it started to leak on my ceiling (kitchen was above me)... I just regret not ratting their arse to the admins!

 

[sagitel]

snip

that is nice! i dont have any problem with most people so there shouldnt be any trouble there.

also. my mom is going crazy. i never knew she was so dependent on me. any tips how should i deal with that?

 

[Scarim Coral]

snip

that is nice! i dont have any problem with most people so there shouldnt be any trouble there.

also. my mom is going crazy. i never knew she was so dependent on me. any tips how should i deal with that?

Err I have no experience on that sorry. I mean what exactly is she depending you on? If it's like how to reply to an email or just to top up a phone then vice versa as in show her how to do it. Granted if it's emotional support than I hoped someone else on here can give you advice on that.

 

[Frezzato]

Assuming that your profile is accurate, I don't think alcohol will be a problem for you. That's normally my advice to new students; stay away from boozing. Also, try and avoid staying up late on a constant basis. This is a very bad habit that a lot of people in the U.S. have and there's a serious sleep deprivation problem here. For example, my sleep schedule is completely wrecked and has been for decades.

Aside from that, I'll say you should always remind yourself of why you're there and the sacrifices your mom/parents made to get you there. If possible, contact her at least once a week to let her know you're okay.

.

Also, there is a possibility you will run into a certain personality type while at university: The Slacker. Sometimes the slacker will breeze through their classes without appearing to study at all. These rare people already know more than some of their professors and aren't concerned with testing or written assignments and do things at the last minute without repercussion.

Stay away from these guys/women You might find yourself associating with them and assume that you can take it easy as well. Chances are you cannot.

Don't worry about the small details. You will learn by doing. As far as laundry is concerned, just keep your white clothing separate from dark/colors.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Gluing everything in the guys dorm room across the hall in it's place as paybacks for the slime mess I had to clean up.. inflatable sheep w/ KY in friends bed the naked hairy viking chasing me all over the place with a spear.. yea the great memories of dorm life.' (Co-ed)

Don't take anything valuable or sentimental. It WILL get stolen, everything gets stolen.

 

[The Philistine]

Does the college you're going to require a meal plan for freshman? If so, you probably won't have to worry much about food or cooking. And if it's anything like my freshman dorm, you won't have much space or facilities to cook anything that doesn't fit in a microwave anyway.

Laundry is just a practice in time management and not being that prick that leaves his/her stuff in the washer for hours on end. Just practice at home.

As for your mom: typical empty nest syndrome. It passes with time. In the day and age of smart phones, texts, and e-mails, you can stay in touch.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Does the college you're going to require a meal plan for freshman? If so, you probably won't have to worry much about food or cooking. And if it's anything like my freshman dorm, you won't have much space or facilities to cook anything that doesn't fit in a microwave anyway.

Laundry is just a practice in time management and not being that prick that leaves his/her stuff in the washer for hours on end. Just practice at home.

As for your mom: typical empty nest syndrome. It passes with time. In the day and age of smart phones, texts, and e-mails, you can stay in touch.

If you leave your stuff in the washer/ dryer often it will not be there when you come back.. you have to guard your underwear if you want to keep it.

 

[Catnip1024]

Top tip: if anybody thinks about putting a set of rules on the fridge, it's time to either hightail it out of there or to start burning things. No matter how well intended they are, they become that thing everyone hates and nobody obeys.

Assuming that your profile is accurate, I don't think alcohol will be a problem for you. That's normally my advice to new students; stay away from boozing.

I would recommend a subtley different approach. Pick a convenient weekend with little planned, get so outrageously drunk on the Friday that you throw up / pass out (bonus points for stopping drinking before an ambulance is called), spend a weekend in agony and consequently learn to pace yourself.

Assuming you can trust your flatmates not to tattoo you / nick all your stuff.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

Top tip: if anybody thinks about putting a set of rules on the fridge, it's time to either hightail it out of there or to start burning things. No matter how well intended they are, they become that thing everyone hates and nobody obeys.

Assuming that your profile is accurate, I don't think alcohol will be a problem for you. That's normally my advice to new students; stay away from boozing.

I would recommend a subtley different approach. Pick a convenient weekend with little planned, get so outrageously drunk on the Friday that you throw up / pass out (bonus points for stopping drinking before an ambulance is called), spend a weekend in agony and consequently learn to pace yourself.

Assuming you can trust your flatmates not to tattoo you / nick all your stuff.

I thought if you didn't bring your own mini fridge WITH A LOCK everyone stole your food anyways so no one cared about rules..

 

[Catnip1024]

I thought if you didn't bring your own mini fridge WITH A LOCK everyone stole your food anyways so no one cared about rules..

Anyone tried that in my flat would have been in trouble. We were serious about food.

Also there's the fact that if that stuff starts, it escalates until nobody can even eat properly, so even in my worst flats that never happened. Just goes to show, that even in the most ghastly, hellish places, there are shreds of civilisation.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I thought if you didn't bring your own mini fridge WITH A LOCK everyone stole your food anyways so no one cared about rules..

Anyone tried that in my flat would have been in trouble. We were serious about food.

Also there's the fact that if that stuff starts, it escalates until nobody can even eat properly, so even in my worst flats that never happened. Just goes to show, that even in the most ghastly, hellish places, there are shreds of civilisation.

AHH you called it a flat, that means it was not in the US and here no one cares about that and everything gets stolen anyways. I thought flats were apartments, not dorms?

To keep your food safe in a dorm here this was advised:

https://www.amazon.com/Corby-1-24-Lockable-Mini-Cooler/dp/B01A5KOXKM/ref=sr_1_2/159-6601726-6436433?ie=UTF8&qid=1474311835&sr=8-2&keywords=small+fridge+with+lock

and then you still needed to hide it. When I moved out of the dorm and into apartments it was so much better. Dorms were awful.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Well, I lived in halls for a year. We had our own rooms with en suite bathroom so it's probably a different setup to the US. I had already left my parents house so I didn't have any problems that way, and since I had always spent all my money on drugs I didn't have anything worth stealing in terms of food. I would occasionally nick the odd slice of bread or bit of milk though. I do recall that nobody could be bothered to take out the bin bags from the kitchen and when we took them up to leave at the end of the year the carpet had gone mouldy underneath.

Now I work in the accommodation department of a university. You'll be ok, you'll work this shit out, you're not a fucking idiot (hopefully). As for nightmare room/flat mates, if they're that bad you can usually get moved after the first few weeks, there's always people who drop out and leave more spaces in other areas...eh, I dunno, it's often university specific. If you were going to my uni (which you won't be) I could give you a lot of info, but you're not.

 

[Catnip1024]

AHH you called it a flat, that means it was not in the US and here no one cares about that and everything gets stolen anyways. I thought flats were apartments, not dorms?

To keep your food safe in a dorm here this was advised:

https://www.amazon.com/Corby-1-24-Lockable-Mini-Cooler/dp/B01A5KOXKM/ref=sr_1_2/159-6601726-6436433?ie=UTF8&qid=1474311835&sr=8-2&keywords=small+fridge+with+lock

and then you still needed to hide it. When I moved out of the dorm and into apartments it was so much better. Dorms were awful.

Yeah, UK terminology. I call it a flat because the overall facility you stay in is referred to as a hall of residence, but the actual groups of accommodation are just flats. Oh, and lockable room doors meant there was no chance of my shit going missing.

But I second the moving out thing. I moved into private halls a little way off campus after my first year (actually worked out cheaper, was right in town, and wasn't too much further to lectures). It was worth it to get away from the giddy antics of people who weren't studying a real degree and who felt 4am was an acceptable time to host a party in the neighbouring flats.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

AHH you called it a flat, that means it was not in the US and here no one cares about that and everything gets stolen anyways. I thought flats were apartments, not dorms?

To keep your food safe in a dorm here this was advised:

https://www.amazon.com/Corby-1-24-Lockable-Mini-Cooler/dp/B01A5KOXKM/ref=sr_1_2/159-6601726-6436433?ie=UTF8&qid=1474311835&sr=8-2&keywords=small+fridge+with+lock

and then you still needed to hide it. When I moved out of the dorm and into apartments it was so much better. Dorms were awful.

Yeah, UK terminology. I call it a flat because the overall facility you stay in is referred to as a hall of residence, but the actual groups of accommodation are just flats. Oh, and lockable room doors meant there was no chance of my shit going missing.

But I second the moving out thing. I moved into private halls a little way off campus after my first year (actually worked out cheaper, was right in town, and wasn't too much further to lectures). It was worth it to get away from the giddy antics of people who weren't studying a real degree and who felt 4am was an acceptable time to host a party in the neighbouring flats.

You share the dorm rooms here, so you have a roommate that will be going in and out as well.. the reason you have to hide the fridge with a lock on it is because they will pick the locks anyhow. Just browse through youtube on "picking dorm room lock" and see how secure your stuff really is. The lock just makes them have to take a bit more time with it, not like it actually keeps the out. They could pick the door locks pretty fast, looks like it was just as fast as using a key many times some of them were so good at it. That was how they got into my room and put slime everywhere... and I had Matt pick their lock for me to glue their shit in retaliation... yea.. so glad I do not have to worry about coming home to slime and naked vikings anymore. XD

 

[Fox12]

i just got accepted to a college, its prestigious, good and free.
sound great? yeah. one problem though its in another city 6 hours away from my hometown.
the problem is that me and my mother are very close and this is hard. also i have 0 experience living on my own (i have never washed my clothes apart from underwear for example). so naturally im freaked out.
this is the part where you come in escapist. tell me memories of you in college, living in dorms.

also any tips are appreciated

Yeah, I was worried too, but it ended up being an absolute blast. One of the best times of my entire life. And I'm a pretty introverted guy. I came out of my shell a lot that year. There's an energy to a dorm that you can't get anywhere else, but there's still enough privacy in your room to make it comfortable. Of course, I had an awesome roomate.

Even if you don't get an awesome roomate at first, though, it's still fine. You can typically move rooms around after you've made some friends, and most colleges will let you choose your roomates after the first semester. I know it's nerve racking at first, but college is SO much better then highschool.

As for personal experiences? As far as living goes, not too bad. I did my laundry once a week. I tried to do it during the middle of the week, because you have to share the washing machines with the whole dorm. I discovered that everyone tended to wait for Sunday, so the machines were always taken. If I did it during the week then they were all free. We also had communal showers, but I never ended up in there with anyone. I wasn't avoiding anybody, but most people waited for the shower to be empty before going in, so I was never disturbed. If you have any serious problems then you can always go to an RA.

Edit: oh yeah, keep your stuff locked up. Especially your room. Write down any serial tag numbers that exist on expensive items, like TV's and game systems. Turn the list into your school, and take a photo. That way, if your stuff gets stolen, or sold to a pawn shop, you can prove that it's yours. Otherwise it will be your word against theirs.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

Learn to cook. Get a cook book -- there are plenty out there tailored for students or people on a small budget -- and start making some meals for you and your family while you are still home. It is healthier and will save you money than if you eat out or buy ready meals.

If you're concerned about being so far away from family then take advantage of phone calls/Skype. My family has a group on WhatsApp that typically sees at least a few messages per day for small messages, as well as using Skype conversations for larger catch-ups.

 

[Kolby Jack]

I lived in a dorm for a year, and then I lived in a barracks with roommates for 6 years after that. Aside from room inspections the two experiences were relatively similar.

Main thing that I can offer as an introvert who barely got to know any of my roommates (unless I worked with them too) is no matter how much you talk to them, get their phone number, know their name, and be considerate. Clean up after yourself, don't make a ton of noise at bad hours, and ask them before making any major alterations to the room. Likewise you should expect them to do the same.

And if they ARE ticking you off, don't be that guy who complains to everyone BUT your roommate about it. That is pointless and annoying even if nobody says anything. Some people just need to be reminded that they have to consider other people before they do anything about it. It's definitely immature and douche-y to have to be told that stuff, but most people at least aren't douche-y enough to ignore you once you ask them POLITELY to be more considerate. Politeness is key. And if they ARE a giant turd who throws it back in your face, tell someone in a position to do something about it, like your RA.

 

[Evil Moo]

My prevailing memory of student accommodation is having half of my flat-mates banging on my door at 2am, very drunk, for about an hour. I think they wanted me to go out drinking with them. As they were already being unforgivably obnoxious, I ignored them until they finally gave up.

Also the time one of the flats above was playing spice girls songs at full volume at 3am.

Or possibly the time the cleaners broke our toilet seat somehow and no one bothered to report it for a week, at which point I grew tired of hovering above cold porcelain and did it myself (with some resentment, given that I neither broke it, nor was the first to discover it broken).

Or maybe the time one of my flat-mates decided it would be a good idea to burn burgers at 4am, setting off the fire alarm and forcing everyone to evacuate the building and stand outside in the middle of winter (in addition to the regular fire drills and random 5 second tests of the alarm that was so loud it always left me shaking).

Overall it was probably one of my least favourite life experiences and served largely to make me feel more inclined to retreat further into my introverted ways

My second year at university was better, renting a house with a friend from my course, a nice, quiet PhD student and a slow cycle of different foreign students that were all generally fine.