Dormitory Life
Dorm life is not at all what I had expected it to be. I had anticipated meeting friendly people, quiet hours for studying, eating decent food, and having wild parties on weekends. My dreams, I soon found out, were simply illusions, erroneous perceptions of reality.
My roommate, Kathy, and I live in Holland Hall on the third floor. The people on our dorm floor are about as unfriendly as they can possibly be. I wonder whether or not they’re just shy and afraid or if they are simply snobs. Some girls, for example, ignore my roommate and me when we say “hello.” Occasionally, they stare straight ahead and act like we aren’t even there. Other girls respond, but it’s as if they do it out of a sense of duty rather than being just friendly. The guys seem nice, but some are just as afraid or snobby as the girls. I remember signing up for “quiet hours” when I put in my application for a dorm room last December. Unfortunately, I was assigned to a floor that doesn’t have any quiet hours at all. I am a person who requires peace and quiet when studying or reading. The girls in all the rooms around us love to stay up until early in the morning and yell and turn up their music full blast. They turn music on at about eight o’clock at night and turn it off early in the morning. There is always at least one girl who has music playing at maximum volume.
Now, I am very appreciative of music, but listening to hard rock until three in the morning isn’t really my idea of what fun is. The girls right across from us usually play soft rock or country artists, and I enjoy them. On the other hand, though, the girls on either side of our room love to listen to growling punk bands into the wee hours of the morning. It is these girls who run up and down the hall, yell at each other, laugh obnoxiously, and try to attract attention. All this continuous racket makes it nearly impossible to study, read, or get any sleep. Kathy and I usually end up going to the library or student cafeteria to study.
As far as sleep goes, it doesn’t matter what time we go to bed, but rather it depends on how noisy it is and how late the music is on. Sometimes the noise gets so loud and goes on for so long that even when it stops, my ears are ringing and my stomach keeps churning. It is on nights like this that I never go to sleep. I wish the people here were a little more considerate of the people around them.
Parties, on weekends, are supposedly the most important part of dorm life. Parties provide the opportunity to meet others and have a good time. Holland Hall has …
