Friday, October 2, 1998
Crowded quarters can be bearable
DORMS: Squeezing into a triple will test your sanity, roommate
relations
By Jinny Joung
Move-in day at the dorms is simply insane. Not only are there
hundreds of freshmen frantically running around without a clue as
to where they are going, the average confused student comes with
three boxes, two bags and two equally confused parents following
closely behind them.
Such was my first day: I hadn’t the faintest clue where to park,
where to sign-in, or which side of the hall was designated "North,"
and which one "South."
So, when the perky person at the front desk handed me my key and
told me that I was on the floor "Two North," I smiled, thanked her,
walked 2 feet away from the desk and stood in utter confusion, not
knowing exactly which direction I should go.
When I finally did find my floor (and also discovered that my
room was at the end of the hall and at the furthest point from the
girl’s bathroom) there was chaos there as well.
As I inched toward my room, I was greeted with a variety of
welcomes from my new floormates: from downright excited
introductions, to shy
"I-don’t-know-you-but-I-should-be-nice-because-we’ll-be-seeing-a-lot-of-each-other"
smiles.
I myself was a jumble of emotions but tried to be friendly with
those that I did meet. These were people whom I would be seeing
regularly; in this atmosphere of virtual strangers, first
impressions would be very important.
My first reaction upon seeing my dorm room was, "You’re kidding
me, right?" How much was I paying to live here again? How in the
world did someone expect three people to live in here?
First of all, not only did the furniture resemble what I
suspected the prisoners at San Quentin enjoyed, but there was
simply too much of it in too small a space.
Also, the walls were painted this depressing, institutional gray
color, and whether it was because the room had been freshly painted
(doubtful), or because the furniture was old and stinky (bingo!),
the room reeked of some odd chemical funk.
As if this wasn’t enough, I was the last roommate to arrive.
Now, if you’re a stranger to community living and not familiar with
what this means, the last one to arrive has last pick … of
everything. So I was given the top bunk, two drawers (as opposed to
the five that the others got), and a pathetic-looking wooden object
that I was told was a closet.
I was concerned about the situation, but because it was my first
day and because I am usually an optimistic person, I tried to
ignore all of the negative thoughts that were racing through my
head.
When I first sat down and started to write this piece, I decided
that this was going to be a positive outlook on life in a triple
room in the dorms. Based on what was written above, you probably
think that somewhere between now and then I changed my mind, but I
didn’t.
When it comes down to it, I loved life in the dorms – even if
there were several disadvantages to living in a three-person
cubicle, and living in the dorms in general.
For one, the "gourmet" food that is served frequently fluctuates
from "Oh my God, that was so good!" to "Oh my God, what the hell
did I just eat?"
The unfriendly and bizarre people on your floor make it seem a
little too close for comfort sometimes. Trust me, soak in the
friendliness while it lasts because pretty soon everyone’s true
colors become very apparent.
The cramped conditions that you and your roommates must live in
on a daily basis can get really agitating.
These were all problems that I faced, but they were not unique
to my experience, and like everybody else, I just had to deal with
them.
My roommates and I quickly discovered and took advantage of all
the little tricks there were to making life in a triple dorm room
not only more comfortable but simply better.
For example, we moved our furniture around to give us the
maximum amount of space possible, and when we were finished, we
actually had a nice, big patch of floor in the middle.
We also brought lots of pictures and posters to hide the dreary
walls, as well as other personal items that would disguise the
sometimes inescapable feeling that we each had from time to time –
the feeling that we were living in some sort of sanitarium.
The other little nuisances that we faced, such as the distance
from our room in the boonies to the girls’ bathroom on the other
side of the hall, and the lack of social activity as the last room
in the hall, were easily solved or resolved themselves.
We discovered that the guys on the floor really didn’t care if
we used their bathroom, and as the year progressed we eventually
met more people on our floor or just visited friends on other
floors.
I was fortunate enough to be blessed with two really great
roommates. Rather than thanking UCLA Housing for this, I say that I
was lucky to have personally chosen my roommates.
I don’t believe that they use those roommate questionnaires as
anything more than to demonstrate some sort of alternative to the
random matching everyone fears.
In support of this theory, many students who left the identity
of their roommates to be determined by UCLA Housing regretted it
because they either had nothing in common with their roommates or
were simply unable to get along with them.
While my roommates and I had a lot in common, we were different
enough to be able to live in such close quarters and not kill one
another out of frustration. This was why I had opted not to live
with close friends in the first place.
We decided early on that we were going to try to work together
to make the living arrangement as fair and comfortable for everyone
as possible. We switched beds quarterly, notified each other in
advance regarding overnight visitors, listened to the stereo with
headphones when someone was reading or studying in the room, and
learned such tricks as getting dressed and ready for school in the
mornings with as little light and as little noise as possible.
All these things, as minor and insignificant as they may seem
individually, contributed as a whole to making our experience in a
triple as positive as I believe it could have been. If you’re not
so lucky in the roommate department, branch out of the room and
meet some of the other 900 or so people in your building – it
shouldn’t be that hard.
Remember, no matter how small or crowded your room or floor may
be, UCLA itself is huge, and there are always several other places
you can be other than where you are.
My advice, since this piece feels more and more like it is
evolving into some sort of advice column for first-time triple or
dorm residents, is to just relax and not take everything so
seriously.
If you take away all of the minor frustrations, what you’ve
really got is a great opportunity to meet a lot of interesting
people and to have one of the most memorable experiences of your
college career. Enjoy the freedom that you have, and take advantage
of the fun that will present itself to you in those dimly lit
halls.
Whether you love or hate your dorm experience at UCLA, remember
that it’s usually only a one-time thing, so try to take from it
whatever you can.Joung is a third-year English student.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board