What It's Like to Live in a Dorm

Growing up as virtually an only child (my older brother left for college seven years earlier), I had my own bedroom, bathroom, car… needless to say, I never really had to share my stuff or my space. When I moved into Ehringhaus freshman year, I didn’t really know what to expect out of dorm life—but little did I know that it would be one of the greatest experiences of my college career.

I remember move-in day freshman year. At first glance, the aesthetics of Ehringhaus 203 weren’t too impressive (and the fact that it lacked air conditioning didn’t help, especially on that hot August afternoon), but after settling in, plugging in the fans, making a few trips to Target, and putting up photos and posters, 203 soon felt like home. Later in the year, my roommate Jeni and I put up Christmas lights and we even got an aquarium with goldfish—now it’s difficult to imagine moving out!

The people were definitely a huge plus in my dorm experience. How often in life will you get to live within five or ten minutes’ walking distance, if not just next door, from your closest friends? Ehringhaus has suites of four bedrooms sharing a bathroom (and while it’s a coed dorm, the suites are either all female or all male), and I was so fortunate to have seven wonderful girls as my suitemates. We were all from different places, like Florida, Texas, South Carolina, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, but that didn’t stop us from hanging out throughout the year. I loved having such good friends nearby—if I were sick, they would come over and help take care of me; if they were hungry or needed something, I would gladly offer them something from my fridge, closet, or desk drawer. The best part of having suitemates would be the impromptu chill sessions in the suite where we would sit around and just talk about whatever we wanted whenever we felt like it.

In addition to my awesome suitemates, I loved having a bunch of friends in the South Campus area, whether just an elevator ride up to the sixth floor of Ehringhaus or across the street at Hinton James or Craige. My roommate and I have hosted people in our room to watch TV, to study, or just to hang out any time of the day; I’ve also enjoyed going over to friends’ rooms to spend some time with them. (One of my favorite activities recently is going up to my friend Katie’s room on the sixth floor of Ehringhaus on Thursday nights to watch The OC with her and some of our other friends—it’s always a good time.) It was never a hassle to get together with friends, and I was hardly bored with so many people nearby.

Another thing that’s really unique to dorm life happens after Carolina victories in big games. I first witnessed this after the football victory against NC State: people were watching the game in their rooms and when we won, everyone rushed out to the balcony and started cheering, clapping, and singing the alma mater. I had never seen anything like it before. It was awesome to see so many happy people just outside your door and I’ll always remember those experiences.

After a great experience my first year, I’m living on campus again sophomore year with my same roommate and I’m really looking forward to it. So take it from someone who epitomizes “only child” and give dorm living a chance—despite the horror stories you may have heard, it could be something that you’ll end up loving and remembering fondly after your four years of college.