Tasks of Living With Others
Moving in
I anticipated a very hectic move-in day recalling previous occasions when I helped my older brother and sister move into their college dorms. Unlike my siblings, I was going to be moving into a supplemental dorm with seven other girls in the same room. My father, brother, and I drove down the night before our scheduled out-of-state move-in day so that we could move in as early as possible and avoid maneuvering between tight stairwells with students from other areas outside of Pennsylvania. The afternoon we arrived in State College, prior to the scheduled move-in day, we visited the residence hall to see which sort of appliances were supplied by the room. The residence hall staff wouldn't let us see the room, but allowed us to move in early for a small fee. That evening, I spent my first night in my dorm room.
Life at Simmons
I felt like I got along pretty well with my roommates. The first roommate I met was Lyndsey, a business and economics major from Beijing, China. She moved in the week before I had and she was happy that she finally had company. We spent a few of the first couple of nights talking about her culture and experiences watching the opening ceremonies at the olympic games this past summer. Shelly, a meteorology major from Dayton, Ohio, and Ashley, a graphic design major, were a few of my closest friends in the dorm. We all appreciated the arts and were all heavily involved in music or visual art programs in our former high schools. I was greatly stressed because although i was very friendly with the other girls in the room, I felt as if they were very disrespectful. They would invite guests over to the room without asking anyone's permission and sneak them in in the middle of the night when they thought everyone was sleeping. This first night this occurred I told the girls that I was very uncomfortable with this situation. The third night this happened I went to my RA about the situation and after a failed group discussion over issue, the RA put me at the top of the waiting list to be placed in other housing.
I felt like I got along pretty well with my roommates. The first roommate I met was Lyndsey, a business and economics major from Beijing, China. She moved in the week before I had and she was happy that she finally had company. We spent a few of the first couple of nights talking about her culture and experiences watching the opening ceremonies at the olympic games this past summer. Shelly, a meteorology major from Dayton, Ohio, and Ashley, a graphic design major, were a few of my closest friends in the dorm. We all appreciated the arts and were all heavily involved in music or visual art programs in our former high schools. I was greatly stressed because although i was very friendly with the other girls in the room, I felt as if they were very disrespectful. They would invite guests over to the room without asking anyone's permission and sneak them in in the middle of the night when they thought everyone was sleeping. This first night this occurred I told the girls that I was very uncomfortable with this situation. The third night this happened I went to my RA about the situation and after a failed group discussion over issue, the RA put me at the top of the waiting list to be placed in other housing.
Packing up and Settling in Again
During the second week of school, I was transferred out of supplemental housing and placed in a small double in Thompson Hall of the West Residence Halls. I was incredibly stressed because I had to make several phone calls just to find a campus van that would help me move all of my belongings. I didn't know until the day I moved in that a small double was actually a single with two people in it. Although I moved out of supplemental housing, I was still going to be cramped but fortunately, my new roommate was really nice. We bunked our beds to create more space for our desks and make do with the tight space. Unfortunately, most of the people in our all are at least a year older than myself and Amanda, and because I moved in later than everyone else, it was hard to get to know everyone on my floor. The only "disturbances" there have been occur as a result of people in neighboring rooms shouting on the phone, but other than that, it is usually pretty quiet and I have no complaints.
Keeping up with the "Housework"
For the past couple of years I've been doing my own laundry at home so it wasn't difficult for me to stick to my regular laundry schedule. My roommate and I are pretty neat so we don't have to worry about cleaning up too much. My desk gets pretty cluttered with papers on occasion but i can usually tidy it up quick.
Decorating!
My roommate Amanda Frank and I love decorating our room with lots of pictures and family photos. For Halloween we hung a life size skeleton decoration on our door, and after the Thanksgiving break we completely wallpapered out door with Christmas wrapping paper to look like a present. Amanda brought from home a small Christmas tree that sits lit and beautiful in our bedroom window.
Food Food Food
I spent my first couple of weeks on campus eating at as many different dinning commons as I could find. I mostly ate at the Simmons dining commons out of convenience which switched to the Warnock West halls dining commons when I moved into Thompson Hall in West Residence Halls. Both of these commons I believe had the best variety but I believe the West commons has the better of the two brunches. Apart from the Simmons Commons, the Warnock Brunch serves a variety of specially made salads that are delicious!