Author: Oreo and KitKat

Before the school year started, there were some expectations and thoughts that I had about college life. In all honesty, I thought that living on my own would be a little scary because this would be the first time I’m truly on my own. Being responsible for taking care of myself and making all of my own decisions felt really overwhelming at first. In terms of classes and teachers, I honestly thought my professors would all be intimidating and hard to talk to. I thought all of my classes were going to be super hard, and that I would be getting a lot of assignments, homework, tests, and so much work. I thought that I would be spending a lot of time on my schoolwork. I also thought that I would constantly be under so much pressure about classes, my job, and so on.

Even though I do get a decent amount of homework, it is not the amount I imagined that I would have to do. I have a lot of free time that doesn’t involve homework. It is a little bit of pressure sometimes, but I have come to realize that it’s often not as bad as it seems. And my professors are the exact opposite of what I originally thought, all of them are understanding and now that I’m used to them, I feel good about talking to them with any questions and concerns I have. Living on my own was a little scary at first, but now I feel mostly comfortable with being away from home, and I know I can easily reach my parents if I need them. And there are a good amount of resources around campus too if I ever need help. I feel better about being on my own and being responsible for myself.

Overall I like living in the dorms here, but there are also some negatives that I have to deal with. First of all, the dorms are small, especially with the fact that I have to live with a roommate. Compared to when I was in high school and living at home, I had all of the rooms in my house to hang out in, and I didn’t have to share my own room with anyone. It is admittedly hard to remember sometimes that I have to stay respectful of my roommate in our small shared space. The dorms here have private bathrooms, but they are small, especially the shower. Again comparing it to my house back home, the shower I have there is bigger and I have room to move around, as well as a lot of space to put all of my soap and cleaning products. Here, the showers are tiny and there is very limited shelf space to put my products, especially with my roommate. 

With that being said, I really like having private bathrooms. I could not imagine having to share a bathroom with up to dozens of other people, I would find that annoying and a little disgusting. I also like the overall privacy that my room provides. I really like having a roommate. Although space is tight, I like having a built-in friend, and my roommate is really nice, so I like sharing my room with her. I like that I am close to all of the buildings and services here, and I am appreciative that the walk between buildings does not take that long. I also like the feeling of independence that comes with living away from my parents. I wrote my last blog post on being my own boss, and I overall feel really good about being on my own. I really like living here on campus, and I am lucky that I have this opportunity. 

Because I am in college and living in a dorm room now, I have more independence and freedom than I have ever had before. For the most part, I am really enjoying this newfound freedom. My mom isn’t in charge of me in the way that I am used to, so I can do many things that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.I can eatOreos for every meal if I want to. I can stay up until one in the morning. I don’t have to ask for permission to go anywhere. I don’t need to do all of the chores that my mom usually assigns me. In fact, there are some chores that I don’t have to do as much now, such as washing dishes, and the only laundry I have to do is my own, and not my family’s as well.

 

Being on my own does also mean that I have to take responsibility for myself in a way that I’ve never had to before. There is nobody around me to tell me what to do, so I am in charge of making sure I take care of all of my responsibilities. I have to make sure I wake up and get ready on time so I can get to class on time. I am responsible for getting my own food, whether that be from the dining hall or going to the store and picking up snacks. I have to make myself go to bed at a reasonable time, do my homework, and do my laundry. Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to be self-motivated to take this amount of responsibility for myself. My mom isn’t here to wake me up if I miss my alarm, or to cook for me, and take care of me in the usual way. It can be a lot of pressure sometimes, but I think it’s worth it to have this new sense of freedom.

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