Reasons to Live In The Dorms

With the end of your first year quickly approaching (spring goes by even faster than Sarah blacking out at the pre-game) you might be itching to leave the dorms, especially with the lease for your sophomore year apartment already signed. So what are the main perks and reasons to live in the dorms? Sure, the ability to store alcohol with out an RA checking in on you, or smoke whatever you want on your balcony, or just the privacy of a personal bathroom seems way better than the cramped space you live in now, but I guarantee there are things you’ll miss about the dorms, that you should cherish now before it’s too late. So what are the perks of dorm living?

PROXIMITY TO CAMPUS
Most college campuses weren’t designed by idiots. While an institution for higher education, they’re also an institution for making money. So universities will highlight how living in the dorms is your best scenario because it’s close to your classes, eateries, and all the fun you could be having at the student union. You’ll even get some of the activities like intramurals and access to the college gym. It’s why it’s quite literally called living “on-campus.” Once you move away, you’ll either be leaving your place a few minutes earlier to walk, or having to account for parking with a semester pass—which can get very pricey. Appreciate that you can roll out of your dorm bed at 7:56 and miraculously make it to your 8:00 AM.

FRIENDS ALL AROUND
Sure you might move into a sorority or frat house where your comrades will be a shout away or an apartment complex where you can call down from your balcony to your best friend’s—but there is something unique about the dorms where you see the same faces in the bathroom each morning or each Wine Wednesday at midnight puking. Where you walk by people you’ve come to know not just as friends, but as family as you’ve sailed against the storm that is your first year of college. You’ll never forget the neighbor who kept slamming his lacrosse ball against the wall when he wasn’t slamming chicks, or the best girlfriend you made who lived down the hall and was always down to talk horoscopes. The dorms are a magical time of people coming into their own and being social, and I guarantee you’ll never have another experience quite like the Real World (The fun! The drama!) vibes of living in your freshman year dorm.

“FREE” FOOD
A lot of colleges have realized they can make the option of living in the dorms even sweeter by combining your rent and meal plan into one lump sum. So it always seems like you’re getting a good deal. And hey, since you’re already paying for the food in this “rent” situation, take advantage of it! I’m not advocating gaining your Freshman 15 before the year ends just so that no money is “wasted,” but I do want to point out that this is the only time in your life where the concept of budgeting for food is basically null. You’ll miss this as a post grad when you have to decide when you’re debating whether you need coffee in the morning or whether you need to feed your cat.