By Alhi Leconte
Dorm life is an experience that quite a lot of people go through that’s significant to college career. Living alone has awaken the harsh reality of “adulting.”
Becoming accustomed to dorm life can be quite overwhelming initially. As a campus resident, I can vouch that over time you learn to adjust and college life gets easier as you learn to balance your professional and personal life.
I graduated from high school in Pembroke Pines in 2015 and started at FIU in the same year. I wanted to fully immerse myself in the college experience and gain more independence so I decided to live on campus. I’ve lived on campus for the past three years, but when my mom moved out of state in 2017, I felt like an adult for the first time.
This changed dorm life for me drastically because I didn’t have the comfort of having a parent closeby. Dorm life and this newfound independence has helped me slowly transition into adulthood. Additionally, there are a lot of factors to dorm life that make it quite difficult.
Campus housing tends to be costly, but there’s also less financial responsibility. You don’t have to keep track of rent, internet, and cable. Not everyone is ready to take on all the responsibilities of adulthood while in college.
One of the most important parts of dorm life is privacy. Roommates can make or break your college experience. Being in a small living space with individuals you have no control over can be difficult.
You may struggle with a roommate not keeping your shared environment clean, personality clashes and majorly different interests. This mostly depends on the individuals because the turnout can also be completely different.
“Living on campus helps stay on top of your academics a lot. Instead of emailing a teacher for help and waiting for a response, if you know their office hours, you can quickly go over and have whatever issues you have resolved,” said former campus resident and senior mechanical and materials engineering major, Tuyen Tran.
Living on campus pushes you to socialize, network, and get involved on campus. As a campus resident, you’re surrounded by other students in similar living situations.
“If you’re struggling with your homework and really need help with a problem, you can go to the tutoring center which is like a 5 minute walk,” said Tran. She says she values the proximity of college resources a campus resident has that a commuter doesn’t.
This forces you to make connections because you see friendly faces every day. The connections you make could end up helping you in the future.
A student’s campus accommodations have a huge impact on their college career. It’s completely up to them on how they adapt to that environment in order to make their dorm life experience successful and overcome “adulting.”
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