Dealing with the Challenges of Dorm Life

The stress of living in a dorm for many freshmen is great; the transition from living in a comfortable environment, such as a guardian’s home, to living outside of it is very traumatic. It is hard because he or she has always depended on the guardian for a calm stable home life, but there is nothing stable or calm about a dorm. The combination of health problems, the feeling of living in a cell, and dealing with many different individuals makes the experience almost unbearable.

While living on-campus an individual must become accustom to few things. They must remember to always wash their hands after being in or around the bathroom because sickness and disease are rampant in a dormitory. One must also make sure to eat properly and try to lean towards processed food as much as possible. This means that when eating at one of the dining halls try to eat the pre-packaged food and not the food that is supposedly freshly made. Also, one should not take for granted that people practice good hygiene because they don’t. Communal living is very hard on the human body because it is subjected to many new and unusual germs and bacteria’s, therefore a students health is at great risk when living with hundreds of strangers in a strange place.

A student living in a dorm is subject to living in a room slightly larger than a prison cell. Like living in a prison, the bedroom, living room, kitchen, and dining room are all combined to form one living space. The air in the room is stale of years from inadequate ventilation, and musty from the out dated furniture that has had everything spilled on them from water to liquor. Poor florescent lighting in the dorm rooms contribute to irritability, drowsiness, and headaches for many, but above all they do not encourage or stimulate good work habits. There is only one light in the room and only half of the four bulbs work at a time. The feeling of seclusion due to being confined makes a person less apt to excel academically.

The uniting of many different personalities, habits, and social backgrounds can create an unsettling environment for a student. The great differences of opinion that people have towards every aspect of life create many conflicts within the building. People do not realize that if they only would be polite to one another that they could have better relationships.