Living in a college dorm is a totally new experience for me. I grew up with three other siblings so it was a big switch from a big house full of people to a small room with just me and my roommate. The first week of college it felt like I was at camp and the dorm I was staying in was just for a short time. Now that I have been living here for a while I am more comfortable in my dorm and it feels like home. I have even noticed myself referring to my dorm as “home.” Living in the dorms comes with a lot of freedom as well as a lot of responsibility.
There are many pros and cons about life in the dorms. Personally one con I have experienced while living in a dorm is other people being loud. Some people can be very inconsiderate and be very noisy during times of the night that are supposed to be quiet hours. One example of this is from a few weeks ago when I was trying to sleep and someone on the floor above me kept running and jumping around and making so much noise at around eleven at night. Another con can be that you are on your own a lot. My roommate goes home most weekends and I don’t so when she is not here I am all by myself for a while. This can get pretty lonely at times. There are also responsibilities like doing my own laundry and dishes and keeping my room clean. These responsibilities are not necessarily a bad thing, but at the moment doing dishes and laundry is not fun.
Some pros of living in the dorms are that you can get really close to your roommate. I knew my roommate before college and we are best friends, but living together has helped us grow closer. I have also met new people in my hall that I probably would not have otherwise met. It is also nice to have a space that is your own. Some of the freedoms I now have are going to bed as late or early as I want as well as things like decorating how I want. One of the biggest pros about the dorms at uwgb specifically is that each room has its own bathroom and shower. Most other colleges have community bathrooms so the fact that there are individual bathrooms is a huge plus. Overall I think living in the dorms is a good experience and I highly recommend it to people who attend the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.