One Hundred Dollars a Month

If you have a teen heading off to college this year and they are feeling a wee bit overwhelmed at the idea of dorm life, here are a few tips my daughter, The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird put together. She lived in the dorms her first year, and survived, and your kid can too. 😉

From The Girl…

Ah college life. Experiencing new things on your own and finally feeling a taste of freedom… except now you have to live in a dorm. Goody. Living in a dorm can be interesting to say the least, especially if you’re sharing the room with a total stranger. That stranger could end up being your best friend or your worst nightmare; the biggest weirdo or the coolest human ever. Regardless, knowing how to navigate dorm life really helps. There are definitely some things that I wish I would have know before heading off to college. So I’m sharing them with you so you’re armed and ready to conquer dorm life! Here they are in no particular order:

Invest in a good pair of headphones:
Trust me, dorms are loud. Even when there are posted “quiet hours” no one really follows them. So if you’re up late doing your homework and there are other students next door partying like it’s 1999, then you are going to want to block them out with a good set of headphones. Earplugs also come in handy if you are a light sleeper or your roommate snores as loud as a freight train.

Have a coffee date with your roommate:
Get to know your roommate. Being friends with the person you’re stuck rooming with {or at least being friendly!} can make or break your semester. At the very least, if you don’t like the person, you can at least be on good terms with them. I think it’s important to get out of your dorm to hang out or talk {or sort out problems}. Sometimes only interacting or trying to get to know someone in your little dorm room isn’t easy. Head out for a cheap coffee or a cheap dinner or a cheap ice cream cone {you see a theme here?}.

Know the best times to wash clothes:
Most dorm buildings have laundry rooms where everyone can wash the weeks clothes. Community laundry rooms are tricky and can leave you wearing dirty socks if you’re not careful! Learn the busy times in your building and avoid those times like the plague!  I suggest washing clothes in the early morning. That always worked for me.

Always have snacks:
There are times when the cafeteria is going to be closed, so you need extra snacks around just in case you get hungry. Being hungry while sitting through a lecture or trying to cram for an exam makes me HANGRY! Don’t let that happen to you. Stock up on snacks or beg your parents for a snack-filled care package {ps. care packages are the BEST thing! Always keep ’em coming.}.

Get a shower caddy:
These things are seriously a must-have. Like don’t leave home without one. They make it easy to carry everything you need to the showers without having the possibility of forgetting something and having to walk back to your dorm room in a towel to get it. So embarrassing. Trust me. I’ve had to do that before. A few too many times. Or at least I did before I invested in a shower caddy. Bought one and problem solved.

A pair of shower shoes or flip flops:
Imagine all the dirty, icky feet that walk into the showers. Don’t walk around those germy showers barefoot. Gross. Flip flops are a must! If you have a spare pair of flip flops, put them in your shower caddy so you are never without a spare pair. Also, shower shoes are a great way to protect your feet from collecting a bacteria referred to as MRSA. That’s dangerous stuff. It can gather in places like a communal shower and get into your body via small cuts and scraps. It’s a beast to try to get rid of and can even be deadly. Yikes!

Split the cleaning duties:
Find a way to even out the cleaning between you and your roommate. Make a handy dandy chore chart, alternating who vacuums or who takes out the trash etc… This is not only a great way to keep your room clean, but having a set plan means there will be no fights about messy spaces.

Don’t do all your studying in your room:
I did some of my best thinking and studying in my dorm room and some of my biggest procrastinating, too! It really helped to switch up the scenery from time to time. Explore your campus to find quiet hideaways to do your studying. Every campus has these little nooks and crannies in them, you just have to have a keen eye to find them.

Learn to organize:
This is an important one. Dorm rooms are smaller than you think they are and you’ll have to learn how to make the best out of every inch of space that you have {or don’t have!}. Have drawers that you can easily stack on one another to maximize floor space, as well as store shorter bins under your bed. I’ve even seen people raise beds up with cinder blocks and put full dressers and desks under their beds. Getting creative with small spaces is a must.

Know who the R.A is:
Resident Advisors: you know, the people who are in charge of your floor and who are tasked with making sure no one burns the place to the ground. They’re also there to help you in anyway that they can to make your dorm experience better. Get to know them. If you have a problem with other people on your hall or your roommate, then you can always ask them for the best way to deal with it. They were made RA for a reason, so utilize them if you need to.

Living in the dorms can be a fun experience and can produce some of your best college memories if you know what to expect and you go in with these easy tips.

Did you live in the dorms in college? Do you have any tips I didn’t mention?

~ The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird