Help! It's My First Time Living in a University Dorm!

So, it's your first time living away from home! If you're anything like me, University was my first time living without my parents. Before university I had seldom gone a day without seeing at least one parent, so when I decided I would be going to a university out of my home city it was a completely new experience for me. Now that I'm in my 7th year, I've been able to reflect upon my time living in a first year dorm and share some helpful (I hope) tips with you!

1. Make friends!

Most dorms have an "open door" policy. If you've never heard of this before, all it means is that when you are home, you have to keep your door open. This allows people who are walking by your room to stop and say hi and really helps you get to know the people in the rooms next to you. Most dorms will have some kind of common area. Go to it! Advance out of your bedroom and meet people! Seriously, this is where everyone hangs out and is the best place to actually start making friends. I unfortunately didn't get along well with my roommate, and since she was often in our room I was forced out into the common room. This kind of ended up being a blessing in disguise as I was able to make a lot of friends this way.

2. Roommate contracts are your best friend.

Most dorms will have roommates complete a roommate contract. This will be a document that you and your roommate(s) go through together and it covers anything from sleep schedules, to food sharing, to guest visits. It is very important to take this seriously. Unless you know your roommate and are already friends, this contract will help you out in the long run believe me. Take into account absolutely everything. Even things you might think are common sense. (For example, if you buy groceries together are you allowed to share everything? Is this a one time sharing situation or is it free rein for the whole year?). I'm not a confrontational person and I found it was far easier to confront a roommate if I knew we had discussed something in our contract and she wasn't doing it.

3. Throw your sleep schedule out the window.

Before I started university I'd had the same sleep schedule for as long as I could remember. In bed by 10, asleep by 11. Now once I started university, this was something that didn't last very long. Like most university students in their first year, we tend to become more active in the evening (like cats). Many times I'd be sitting and talking and suddenly it was 11:30 before I even realized. Combine this with the abundance of Lord of the Rings marathons and you get really great at just staying awake. It didn't really help either that the walls in our rooms aren't very thick so you tend to hear a lot of what is happening outside your room. Yes, our dorm did have quiet hours, but that didn't stop people from thudding down the hallway or entertaining... erm... "gentlemen callers" during the night.

4. Privacy

If you've never had to share a bathroom with anyone you may be in for a shock. While I was in a co-ed dorm, we tended to stay on our sides of the hallways. Each side had two bathrooms that were shared between the people on the floors. I was a pretty self-conscious person—especially in my first year. Even though I only had one roommate I would wait until she was sleeping to get changed for bed, or get ready in a bathroom stall. This was the same when I showered; usually I was completely dressed before I came out of the bathroom. There were of course some people who were more confident than I was, and props to them! Be prepared for anything, and be warned... You can hear everything in those dorms.

5. Have fun!

School and classes is the most important obviously, but this is also an experience that you won't have again! No one is ever in first year again, so enjoy it! Get to know the people on your floor and make life long friendships with them! Get involved! Most dorms will have floor events or campus wide events (we had floor movie nights and "rez wars" with other residence buildings on campus). There's usually someone in the dorm, so say hi! In my first semester a bunch of us didn't have class at 1:00, so we started having "family Maury time" (This was where we all watched Maury together). This is a great time to experiment and make new friendships, I'm still friends with many people from my first dorm even seven years later. So have a great time!

So there you go! I hope these tips help someone out there. I had a great time in my first dorm and it was a huge learning experience for me. Enjoy your first year of Uni and have a great time!