Countdown to College: A Place To Call Home

July 22, 2009 12:00 pm     Posted in Reality  Marisa - Wesleyan University g+ page

frustration


By Marisa

July 22. I had it circled on my calendar. It was written in red Sharpie on a Post-It note strategically placed on my desk. The Facebook class of 2013 group was all a-flutter with activity as we counted down the days, hours, and minutes together.

And then it was midnight on the day we were to receive our housing assignments for the fall. Raise the curtain!

Okay, so maybe that was a bit melodramatic. But the anxiety I felt as I waited for the clock to strike midnight was certainly no joke. I felt almost as nervous as I did before I got my acceptance letter in the mail. What if I got a bad dorm? What if I hate my roommate? Why the hell is this dorm called the Butts (short for Butterfields, I’ve since learned)?

Midnight arrived, and our online accounts were updated with our housing information for the fall. Well, except some people – including several acquaintances and myself – who saw a blank page where the room assignment was supposed to be. There was a deluge of updates to my Facebook news feed and the class of 2013 group with either happy or sad news; it appeared that just as many people got the dorm of their choice as those who did not. I frantically refreshed the page, waiting for my own assignment to come. Five minutes later, it was still blank. Ten minutes later, blank. 12:45 a.m., no assignment, lots of frustration, unable-to-piece-together-a-coherent-sentence-ahhhh! And I had a train to New York City to catch in the morning.

1 a.m. rolled around, and I made a deal with a fellow ‘13er who was also refreshing her page like a madwoman: if it wasn’t up by 2 a.m., I would go to bed and at least try to fall asleep. And as soon as I woke up in the morning, I’d hop on the computer and discover my fate.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, for my poor nerves), I didn’t have to stay up much longer. A half hour of refreshing later, and my page was updated! And with good news – I got the dorm I wanted! I was placed in a single room in a dorm with mixed freshman and sophomores, and I’ve already met some of my neighbors on Facebook. Around 3 a.m., I finally crashed and went to sleep. I feel like a total zombie this morning, but hey, people have done crazier things for college, right?

Anyway, I’m super pumped to be livin’ in a single, especially after hearing some roommate horror stories. Anyone out there got some they’d like to share?

12 Comments on "Countdown to College: A Place To Call Home"

  1. Vicki says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20098:16 am 

    My freshman year, I was sitting around one evening about a month into the first semester, when I see her packing up her stuff. It turns out that she had been on the waiting list for a single and was now moving there. That was the better of my two roommates that year.

    I then moved in with another girl on my floor, since neither of us had roommates. A week or two before Thanksgiving Break, I come back from working out at the rec center, to find all of her stuff gone, and a post-it note on the door. Apparently, she had been on the waiting list for a single also, and had just gotten word that one had become available.

    I didn't really have any issues with these girls as persons, just the fact that they didn't even bother to let me know that they were on the waiting list and failed to even notify me that they were moving out. It's called common courtesy.

  2. Maria says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20098:55 am 

    The roommate I was randomly stuck with last year was the WORST. She never showered, and did laundry MAYBE twice the entire year. She ate all of my food, drank all of my water, and half of my underwear mysteriously went missing. One time, after returning from a weekend at home, I saw all of her dirty laundry sitting on MY bed, and she was conveniently not around. One other time, she left her dirty, nasty, perod-stained underwear sitting in the middle of the floor while she went on a day-trip with friends. She stayed up all night, and slept all day. She would skip classes, and then always ask me what she missed in the classes we had together. I tried to move out, and the school told me that I could only move if she agreed to move if they needed her to (some rule about no half-vacancies). She refused, and I was stuck with her nasty behavior.

  3. Ness - Sheridan says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20098:59 am 

    I've decided not to go for rez, but instead to get an apartment. For the summer I'm living on my own (long story), but I'll be living with my best friend and her boyfriend come September 1st. While I'm excited to have some company, I've been enjoying the time on my own. Hello, walking around naked! Also, I have problems with my friend on occasion and am starting to get a little worried about how the year is going to go. But I guess we will see…

  4. kirsten says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200910:02 am 

    I was really nervous about getting my roommate assignement. When it finally poped up it said Kirsten and at first I thought it was a typo (my name is Kirsten too and before that I have never met another one) Well it wasnt a typo. Our RA admitted that we were put together as a joke because of our names. It turned out to be the best thing that came out of living at the dorms. We are still best friends to this day!

  5. Cait says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:18 pm 

    My roommate freshman year was Mormon (nothing against this religion at all) and the town was full of Mormons as well, since Utah is a neighboring state and my college was about an hour from the border. She recruited me to go to her ward every week, where I constantly had to explain that I wasn’t interested in converting, just wanted to spend some time with my roommate and see what her life was about. Also, she liked to bark like a dog (?) and numerous times our RA had to come knocking and wouldn’t leave til we admitted we had an animal in our room…but, all in all, it was a great experience lol.

  6. shari says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 200912:36 pm 

    freshman year i HATED the first roomie they assigned me. we did not get along and were both miserable, so she switcheed rooms when the semester ended and i got someone new. the new girl and i became instant best friends and we lived together and pretty much did everything together for the next two years until we both transferred to different schools (her going back home to new jersey and me moving with my boyfriend to a school farther away from home). now, over 4 1/2 years since we met, we're still best friends! even after being long distance friends, we visit and are are close as ever!

    (i just wanted to throw a roomie success story into the mix, but believe me i had plenty of horrible roomies after i transferred! lol)

  7. Beverly says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20091:33 pm 

    I had a complete nut job as a roommate. I really wish I was kidding when I say she had a dead animal collection…jars and jars of petrified animals. She slept with the dead bat tucked under her arm.

    She also sexiled me every other day…

  8. Dirk Diggler says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:36 pm 

    You requested a single?! The roomie lottery was half the fun of my freshmen year! Our overpopulated school dropped me in a double in the freshmen dorm… with two other kids. We got along great and our still best friends.

  9. C says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20093:38 pm 

    I was lucky and got a perfect roommate. I couldn't imagine living in a single freshman year. Does everyone in your hall have a single? That would be ideal, since everyone is going to have to be social outside their rooms.

  10. girl says:
    Wed, 22nd Jul 20098:06 pm 

    My first semester roomate was on ANTI-PSYCHOTICS.
    Also was constantly in the room, playing online avatar games of a provocative sort (that IMVU shit), and eating almost only ramen noodles which stunk up the room.
    She never did dishes unless he MOM came over (once a week, for the first month…)

    Then again, I went to a school for special needs kids. But it’s tough being the most sane when you’re used to being the most INSANE in other places!
    Never again.

  11. Jenny says:
    Thu, 23rd Jul 20095:45 am 

    I always liked having roommates, to be honest. Here's another positive roommate story.

    I didn't luck out during my freshman year. My roommate never went to classes, left her TV on 24/7, used my loofah, and stole money from me. Fortunately, she got kicked out of school for failing all of her classes in favor of shopping and drinking.

    But all three years after that, I ended up with the best roommates ever. The reason I got along so well with them is because they set up "interviews" in order to get to know me before allowing me to live with them. We all hit it off great, and although I've lost touch with my two junior year roommies, I'm best friends with one of my 6 roommates from sophomore year and I'm still great friends with my 3 roommates from my senior year.

    Plus, for grad school, I live i an apartment with my boyfriend and my best friend, who are the absolute best roommates ever. So, out of the 14 people I've lived with, only one have them has been awful to live with.

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