Dorm life makes us smarter

It took me twenty minutes, thirteen phone calls around the globe, nine text messages, IM chats with six people, a million Google search results to figure out how to do my first laundry. It may sound dreadful to some and some might actually know what I am talking about.

It was not until I read the topic for this week’s assignment (Is Drexel culture/society/activity making us smarter?) that I realized it was not only the classroom lectures and activities that were going to make me smarter and my experience at Drexel worthwhile but also living all by myself, in a dorm far away from home. My experience here at Drexel is not going to be bound just by academics, there is going to be much more that will contribute to make my experience here meaningful and me, smarter.

As a freshman at Drexel I am required to live on campus during the first year which will make my college life an overwhelming experience. I am not only away from home but also miles away from the country where I have lived all my life. Of course, it’s not going to be easy for me to adjust to college life. It’s going to be quite challenging. It’s been only two weeks since I moved in in to my dorm room but to me it feels like it’s been forever. I have learnt a lot from my first few experiences living on campus in just a span of two weeks.

Since I don’t have any siblings I have never had to share my room with anyone, and thinking about that now I just wish I could be in such a situation just for another day. One of the most challenging tasks of living on campus is sharing your room with a room mate whom you have never met before and allowing him to break in to your personal space. If I look back in the past letting someone in to my personal space would make me very uncomfortable. But now that I have to give him the ticket to do so I feel that I am ready for this, I am ready to adjust. Surprisingly, ‘adjusting’ for me has not been much of a task, it has been an experience that I believe has made be a better person, it has made me smarter and has instilled in me the skills I never knew I was capable of having. Initially I found it rather infuriating that my sleep had to be disturbed just because my roomie had an early class at 8 am, I was not allowed to keep the lights on late night, I could not mess the room up with my clothes lying all over the floor, etc etc. But now, I don’t find these things infuriating anymore, I have learnt to adjust and change. I try to sleep early and not keep the lights on so that I could wake up when he has to and get to work. Not letting my clothes lie all over the floor but putting them where they are supposed to be, in my closet has made me an organized person at last and my room neat (for once). This whole new experience of having a roommate has made me more responsible and independent.

Dorm life has made me do things I had never done before. As I mentioned earlier, doing my laundry was a big task for me, and when I was successful it made me feel like I had achieved something, I had been rewarded with a new skill. It was just last night when I did my second laundry and yeah, it was trouble-free. Living on campus, I have interacted with many people and have made many friends from around the globe, and this has added a lot more to my experience as a college student.

Dorm life has made me a much more smarter, independent and responsible person. I don’t need my mom anymore to wake me up for school at morning, and I don’t need to be told what to do and when do to. I am my master and I have the liberty to make my own choices. I have gained a lot from my experience on campus and I believe when I am back home after graduating I will have a lot to take back with me. My dorm life has made me a smarter person than I was the day I moved in, and I look forward to learn a lot more from my dorm life experiences in the future.