Living in a college residence hall is quite different than living in your parent’s house and, of course, you knew that already. However, there are some aspects that you won’t fully comprehend until you move in. And as someone who lived through it, I can tell you that this is really what res life is like compared to your family home.
1. At your parent’s house, you probably had your own room
but in the res hall you will have roommates–enough said!
2. In a house, you have a bedroom for sleeping, a kitchen for eating, a living room for hanging out with friends etc…
while in a res hall room you have one room for all of the above activities
3. Back home, your neighbors live on the other side of a picket fence
but your neighbors live just on the other side of the wall in a res hall
4. Before you moved to college, your parents would yell at you for playing music too loudly
but now you’ll be the one asking people to turn their speakers down
5. At your parents’ house, the bathroom is a place of privacy
while in a res hall a bathroom is, well, just a bathroom
6. Back home, the person to washing machine ratio is about 4:1 with the bonus of Mom’s complimentary laundry service
At college, the person to washing machine ratio is more like 20:1
7. If you are hungry at your parents’ house, you just have to walk over to the fridge
But at college if you want a meal you have to walk across campus to the dining hall
When you break it down, a residence hall is a crowded, noisy crash pad with small bedrooms and not-so-private bathrooms that requires effort and planning to find food. But, it is also the place where you will make many of your friends, get creative with interior design, stay up too late cramming for exams, while away Saturday afternoons with movie-marathons and taste a little independence. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime experience of communal living that will be totally different from living with your parents, yet in the end, your residence hall will become your home sweet home.
Elizabeth Meinders
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