A lot of stress comes with your first year of college, and room selection is a huge stressor for many incoming students. Room selection can make you feel stuck when it comes to both your dorm building and roommate, but that doesn’t have to be the reality.
Creating a relationship where you can comfortably express your concerns is important for both you and your resident assistant. RAs are there to assist you with more than when you forget your keys. They can help you fill out work order forms, get in contact with emergency and maintenance workers if needed and help with difficult roommates or neighboring residents. RAs also host residence hall events you can attend for free and utilize to meet and become friends with people living in your hall.
If you end up in an unfixable situation with your room or your roommate(s), you can switch rooms in the spring semester. Many dorms open up during the spring semester. Whether due to transfers or those studying abroad, there may be a dorm you can move into to improve your situation. For extreme situations such as health hazards, inform your RA so they can help you find a temporary housing space until the spring semester.
Don’t be afraid to fill out the work order requests if needed, especially for damage that may have been there before you moved in. Make sure you document any prior damage so you are not held liable and get them fixed, especially if it affects your living environment.
Some dorms on campus, such as those on South Green, have a bad reputation when it comes to living comfortably. The dorms are older and are not as up to date, making it not everyone’s first choice compared to renovated dorms on East Green or the newly built McDavis Hall.
Despite the negative reputations of some dorms, the reality is that all dorms have their positives and negatives. Like many dorms in South Green, they are the closest dorms to Nelson Court and Nelson Market. When it comes to your room, if you evaluate and document prior damage and fill out a work form if needed, you can make yourself at home. You can also use decorations in your section of the dorm and fill out the roommate agreement on Roompact to establish ground rules for everyone to live comfortably.
All residents with a roommate must fill out the roommate agreement on Roompact. The agreement covers multiple aspects of sharing a space, such as shared items, dorm guests and how to communicate comfortably with each other when problems arise. Your RA heavily encourages you to fill that out as soon as possible, so when tensions do potentially rise, there are established rules and plans in place.
The communal bathrooms are another common perceived negative when it comes to living on campus as a freshman, and it's hard to pretend like it’s an ideal scenario. But your RAs will also ensure that the bathroom stays a respected shared space. If you notice any behavior or residents not cleaning up after themselves, inform your RA and they will ensure that it is taken care of and the behavior does not continue.
Keeping yourself busy and involved on campus can not only help you ease into campus life but also make your dorm feel less claustrophobic. Motivating yourself to leave your dorm and find other places on campus that make you feel at home can help you escape the box of your dorm and potentially get some alone time if you have roommates.
If you get involved on campus and push yourself to meet new people, you will feel less like your dorm walls are caving in and more like they are expanding amongst the whole campus.
BobcatConnect and going to the involvement fair are perfect ways to get your name out there in some clubs and stay updated on meetings and events happening on campus. The involvement fair takes place on College Green during welcome week. It can get super crowded and overwhelming, but it is a good way to meet with clubs at their booths face-to-face and ask them questions. For anything you miss, you can go to BobcatConnect.
BobcatConnect is Ohio University's online hub for all clubs and intramural sports associated with OU. You can find club events, join club email lists and track your involvement in certain organizations. The more you sign up for as a freshman, the better! You will eventually figure out what groups you gravitate to and want to get more involved in.
It’s important to take things in stride your freshman year and put yourself out there. You can make the best of your four years at OU by getting involved and finding the groups and spaces you feel most passionate about pursuing. There are some downsides to dorm living, especially when your room selection may not have been what you hoped, but using OU’s resources can tremendously help you through any struggles to ensure you have a great first year.
Grace Schmidt is a sophomore studying journalism and fashion merchandising at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Grace about her column? Email her at gs326823@ohio.edu@graceschm1dt
