Here’s part 2 of my Studyblr University Orientation Week! The first part of this post may be coming a bit late for some of you who have already started school, but the second half should still help and I know there’s a bunch of you who haven’t moved in yet.
Move In Day
Accept help from the volunteers that are there. They’ll be careful with your stuff, I promise.
It’s okay if you get lost and need to ask for directions.
Your roommate isn’t the only student you need to worry about. Greet your floormates ASAP. These are the people that you’ll be sharing a bathroom and shower with for the next year, and it’s important that you all get along. A good first impression can go a long way.
Your RA will have some sort of icebreaker game prepared to help everyone relax and get to know each other. This is usually optional, but I highly recommend that you go. It’s a good way to meet the rest of your dorm and begin feeling a little more at home.
Take your time unpacking. You don’t need to get it all done in one night: it’s okay if it takes you most of orientation.
Start with your bedding. Having a cozy bed to climb into the first night will make all the difference.
There’s no shame in crying when your parents leave. Everyone else did it too.
Have some sort of icebreaker prepared to get all of your floormates talking. The floor I lived on had six girls on it (we lived in a tower so it was a small floor) and one girl brought non-alcoholic champagne for us to drink the first night. It’s still one of the best memories I have with them.
A lot of dorm room doors have an automatic lock. Find out if yours does. The first person I met in uni was the girl in front of me in line while I was waiting to get my key. She didn’t know this and had locked herself out of her room in the first five minutes.
Bring your student id with you everywhere. This is typically how you’re going to get in and out of the dorms.
The first night will be the hardest. It only gets easier after this.
Dorm Life
I’m repeating a point here, but it really is important: make friends with your floor! These are the people you’ll be around for the next year and they’ll also be the people who will see you at your weakest (kind of a side effect of being right there when you break down over schoolwork). It’s important that you can at least stand each other.
Don’t leave things in the bathroom. You share that space and it’s really rude if half the counter space is taken up by one person’s stuff.
If you’re going to throw a party, keep it down but also let the rest of your floor know. There’s nothing worse than being woken up in the middle of the night by an unexpected party. It also allows your floormates to make alternate sleeping plans if they need to (such as crashing at a friend’s dorm).
Respect quiet hours. People are trying to sleep.
Try to keep your noise to a minimum. If you want to listen to music, either use headphones or keep your door closed. Same thing with watching tv. Close the door if you’re making a phone call, especially if you’re arguing with your parents.
If your hallway’s echoey, don’t stand out there and talk. If you do, everyone will hate you.
People are here to study. Respect that.
Never go into another person’s room without their permission. And if they tell you to leave, leave.
Don’t keep dirty dishes in your room. You’ll get bugs and it’ll smell.
Your dorm may come with a mini fridge or you may choose to rent/buy one. Keep an eye on your expiration dates and buy smaller sizes of products than your family did. It’ll amaze you how little you go through in a week when it’s just you.
Set a timer for your laundry. Nobody likes a machine hogger. It’s also polite to only use one machine at a time, especially if it’s busy.
The weekend is the busiest time for laundry. Do yours Tuesday night.
Take out your garbage regularly. Same deal with your recycling.
If you’re going to get drunk, vomit in the toilet. Not in the sink. And clean up your own vomit. (I’ll be making a longer post about drinking in uni later).
Don’t. Use. A. Microwave. Or. Toaster. Or. Kettle. In. Your. Room. You will set off the fire alarm and the entire building will hate you when they’re standing outside in their pyjamas at 5AM the morning before a big test. In the middle of winter.
Take warnings seriously. I knew a guy in first year who was kicked out of rez for partying too much because he threw a party when he was on probation and thought that they wouldn’t actually kick him out. This includes requests from your floormates to keep it down. They will call the RAs on you if you keep it up.
Be nice to the janitors and meal hall staff.
