Author: Meredith Grey

Some people have a great time living in the dorms. I have, unfortunately, experienced mostly the opposite. Before you move in together, there isn’t really any way of knowing if you are going to like living with your new roommate. It isn’t uncommon for roommates to butt heads. Your roommate may be a slob, they have a weird smell, or (in my case “and”) they sleep until one or two in the afternoon. There is also a huge adjustment period if you have never had to share a room with someone. Your roommate may not be the only person that is getting on your nerves. You also have to live with around sixty other people that you’ve never met. These people might take your food out of the fridge in the lounge, leave their clothes in the washing machine long after they are done, set off the fire alarm, or they might simply be incredibly loud at all hours. But there can also be good things about living in the dorms.

Source: https://www.uwgb.edu/housing/services-amenities/furnishings/

If you put yourself out there and go to any events that are being held in your residence hall, you might be able to become friends with some of the people that you live with. Each residence hall also has a lounge. Every lounge should have a TV, seating, and a kitchen (some also have a pool table). The lounge can be a great place to hang out to watch movies or play pool with some of your fellow residents. The dorm rooms themselves can be a decent place to hang out too. Each dorm room also has a decent amount of space as you and your roommate can both move around without bumping into each other. The private bathrooms are a great thing to have. Having your own bathroom significantly lowers your risk of getting a fungal infection. Overall, the dorms themselves are fine. The people that you share the residence hall with are the ones who are going to determine how you end up feeling about housing.

 

Joining Greek life can be very scary if you know nothing about it. In the movies, they tend to show the Sororities and Fraternities in a very negative light. For example, in films such as Sydney White (2007), the sororities participate in hazing the potential new members, and in Legally Blonde (2001), the current members were all blonde, dumb, and rich. I had never really thought about joining a sorority. I had seen these types of films that only show the negative stereotypes of sororities. I wasn’t sure if Greek life would be for me. I had just assumed that all of them would be stuck up and rude, but I was completely wrong.

When I went to their booths at “Meet the Greeks,” I met some of the nicest girls I have ever met. I immediately clicked with the girls from two of the sororities. Two weeks later the bid week activities started. I went to Pi Beta Phi’s speed friending night where small groups of us sat at the tables and a couple current members would rotate between each table and talk to us for a bit. At first, I thought it would be scary to meet and talk to all these new people, but it was really easy. I fell in love with all of the girls and the environment that they created. They were all incredibly easy to talk to and I could tell that they cared about what I had to say. At the end of that week, I knew I had gotten two bids, but I knew there wasn’t a choice. I knew that I was going to choose Pi Phi. On September 22, I ran home: to my sisters.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=991224658624380&set=ecnf.100032105663044