Saturday, February 12, 2011

Dorm Life

This is my 7th semester living in the same dorm. I've been on the 3rd floor for two years, the 9th for one (and I would have been on it this year if not for health problems) and now I'm on the 2nd.

The dorm has 10 floors and the 1st is not residential.

Each floor has had its pluses - it's much quieter on the 9th, but when the elevator conks out or the fire alarm goes off, wow that's a lot of stairs.

And now I have a room near the elevator, so much noise outside my door and above my head as somebody walks their elephant nightly.

My first year I was on the Honors floor and we had earlier quiet hours, and I would turn on my TV and then stand in the hall to make sure it wasn't loud. I'm a bit... weird. I've had a number of roommates, and I'm the only one who watches TV with headphones on. I can't listen comfortably with another TV going.

Anyway, a lot of people say that rules in dorms treat college students like children. I say they make you act like you care about other people. The biggest is visiting hours - at least you can't sexile your roommate all night, I get to come back at midnight or 2am. My sister thinks living in an apartment will be quieter - HA!

This morning was the first fire alarm of the semester. It went off at 4am. We stood outside for more than 30 minutes. It was less than 30 degrees outside, and few people were dressed for it, because your main thought when that damn thing starts blaring is to get out as soon as possible.

My biggest dorm issues stem from noise - the pipes (I think) make this shhh noise, you can't hear anything over it, but there is one plus side to it. At home, when I hear a noise upstairs, there's no one up there, so I get scared. Mostly because my mom picks on me. But here? There are supposed to be people in the hall and upstairs and out my window.

My roommate this semester is awesome - she gets overheated too, so she didn't mind having the window open until we got the heat turned off. Well not "turned off" - it's 68 right now, but it's not 80 and the air isn't all heated and nasty. We may have to get it turned back on when it's AC time, though. And the people in charge - maintenance, desk workers, RAs, grown-ups working in Residence Life - all tell me to stand on the toilet, move a ceiling tile, and "there's a switch up there!" No. Just... No.

Some rambling, but gripes about rules always bother me - there's a reason, you're not the only person in the building, so shut up, it's 1am on a school night!

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