Freshman 15, Here I Come

I believe it’s safe to say that every prospective college student has heard of the in inevitable freshman 15. No one knows whether the fifteen pounds that every college student is expected to gain within their first year is from stress (due to classes or living away from home), the eating that takes place in their spare time, or even their new easy access to alcohol. However, it never comes as a surprised when they become, yet, another victim.


When I began my new living experience, I vowed to take advantage of my complimentary gym membership. Accompanied by a few of my friends I went to the gym religiously, making a point to save a time period of about an hour and a half for that specific purpose. Every day I grabbed my iPod and a bottle of water spent a good amount of time on the elliptical and working various other machines and exercises.


Unfortunately, about two months into my second semester, my dedication seemed to fade. Perhaps my seven classes were taking a toll on me or maybe the lack of results I was seeing caused me to question whether it was worth the effort. It simply seemed to me that my time might be better off spent napping than exercising. All I can say is that it made sense at the time.


Since then my New Year’s resolution and every effort I have made to work the gym back into my schedule have failed. The only thing I can do now is say, Freshman Fifteen, here I come!

There’s No Escaping It

Procrastination is contagious in a dormitory. I always put off doing my homework until around 7:30 when I get back from dinner. I find I way to justify this decision by rationalizing that I spend all morning and most of my afternoon in classes, therefore the three hours of free time I have before dinner should be spent resting. With the appropriate amount of rest I can be completely focused on my studies later.

However, today after dinner a not so unusual thing happened. I found myself in no mood to do homework. As I walked into my suite I headed for my room, preparing to force myself to do my work, but the couch caught my eye. I thought about how funny it would be for my friend to come home from work and find it in her door way. Then I planned on stacking some chairs on top of the already strategically placed couch, but once I had all of the furniture in the hall I found it oddly cozy.

By this time I had sparked the interest of three other girls in this suite. After much consideration of what to do with our now empty common room we thought of rebuilding the beds of some of our de-tripled roommates and creating a good place to be lazy and hang out. As we reconstructed the old beds we talked of all of the homework we had been planning to do at this time.

After the beds were in place we had decided that the rest of the furniture would complement the room better. An hour later the room was done, complete with clean sheets covering every piece of dorm furniture that had been supplied to us.

Despite the completion of my masterpiece I still wasn’t done procrastinating. Before writing this blog I managed to play lacrosse in the hall, volleyball in the game room, and analyze two songs (out of pure interest). There’s no escaping procrastination in a dorm.

Pee Your Pants Moments

Think that the only reason I haven’t gained the freshman fifteen yet is because of the countless times I have found myself laughing uncontrollably. I’m not talking about a little giggle here and there. Not a day goes by in the dorms where I don’t find myself in hysterics to the point where my stomach hurts. On the 4th floor we call these Pee Your Pants Moments.


Last night, this moment took place under my bed. That’s right, under my bed! With my bed on the highest notch, I find that if I lay on my stomach I can just manage to reach the bottom draw of my desk which is at a perpendicular angle to my bed. As I made this maneuver last night I found that the crate under my bed was blocking my drawer ever so slightly. As I struggled to push the crate into it’s usually position further under my bed I watched my roommate bust out in laughter. I struggled to understand why, that is until the crate flew out from under my bed and one of my suitemates crawled out and ran towards the bathroom laughing hysterically. Her plan to scare me when the lights went out had been ruined, but I think this outcome had been much more comical.


Another one of these moments, that had happened not so long ago, was a little more painful on my part. My roommate and I raced into the elevator because we wanted to watch the eclipse from the 11th floor. I don’t know why we were running so fast, I mean the actual event lasted for about four hours, but we didn’t know that at the time. Well, once we made it into the elevator my roommate was in such a rush that she accidentally pushed the HELP button. When the operator’s voice came over the intercom asking if we needed assistance, we immediately booked it out of the elevator, twice as fast as we had entered. Unfortunately, as I rounded the corner my socked feet slipped out from underneath me and I found myself laid out across the floor, a position I’m all too familiar with. Needless to say, the next place we raced to was the bathroom.

We Love the Night Life

Mornings around the dorm are usually pretty calm. Half of my suite mates are lying in bed still contemplating whether or not they are going to skip class, while the rest of us are sluggishly preparing for our first class of the day. I’ve heard stories of other suites fighting over the shower and sink space, claiming that if you don’t have a class within the next hour, then you don’t belong in the bathroom. No such fighting takes place in my dorm. We tend to stay out of each other’s way when we are heading to the shower to simple stick our head under the faucet or at the sink when we are brushing our teeth. All we try to do is look semi presentable for class, no make up for us.

Afternoons are even less eventful. Some of us are still sitting in our last class of the day, counting the minutes until we can return back to our room. Others, who have completed their learning for the day, have passed out in their beds until dinner. Finally, a select few decide to take advantage of the quiet, and work on their homework before the chaos begins.

It’s not until 8:00 when everyone wakes up and the madness begins. On any given day at this time you can find any number of things happening. People getting dressed up and preparing for the many parties they plan to make an appearance at, a gathering of girls loudly discussing the day’s events and the drama that took place, or even a couple of people playing dodge ball in the hall, putting off those papers that are due in the very near future.

Extravaganza My Butt!

I honestly have to say that if there is one thing I don’t like doing each year, it would be going to the “Room Extravaganza” at Fitchburg State College. Room Extravaganza is the event at which everyone waits in line in hopes of getting a room with their friends for the next year. However, I see it more as three hours of my life spent in a claustrophobic state praying to the gods that the people who just cut me in line aren’t going to receive the last available room in my hall.

The way this event is run at Fitchburg is on a first come first come bases. People who want a room in the same resident’s hall they are currently living in can sign up at five and if you want to live in a different hall then you have to wait until eight. Why is it then that when I showed up at 3:30, I found myself at the end of a line running all the way into the bleachers? If this wasn’t bad enough, I later found out that people had been having friends hold a place in line for them, so that when it seemed that your turn could be coming up, six other people hopped in front of you. But I shouldn’t complain, one of my suite mates claimed their place in line at 10:00 this morning, and she still has another thirty minutes of waiting to do.

Other schools have a lottery system in which every students gets a number, and that’s the order in which they get to choose their room in. There are also the methods of going in order of seniority or even academic standings. Heck, if you’re going to do it by first come first serve then you should at least give everyone a number when they walk in the building!!!

Lock the Door?

After reading my last blog it should come as no shock to you that I don’t enjoy locking my door. As a person who hates being alone I usually welcome any company that chooses to walk through my door way. However, I have recently come to the conclusion that there are some circumstances in a college dorm room where there are consequences for leaving your door open. The most common situations that require a locked door can be broken into three categories: homework, sleeping, and television.

Have you ever tried to read a book when none of the ten other girls you live with seem to have any homework? How about writing a paper while guitar hero is being played in your common room? The fact of the matter is you just can't get work done when everyone else around you is having fun. With the help of a closed door you can at least pretend that everyone else is as miserable as you.

The next category is pretty self explanatory. No one likes to be woken up, from a much needed nap after your fourth class of the day, by overly hyper suitemate who found it fit to take a personal day and skip their classes. However, I find it much more unpleasant to be woken up by your drunken suitemate at four o’clock on a Friday morning when you have an eight o’clock class.

The final situation in which I decided you should close your door is during television. Now don’t get me wrong, not all shows deserve the honor of a closed door. But if you watching that one show a week you set time aside to be able to watch, then you certainly don’t want it ruined by an argument down the hall that managed to make its way into your room. Also, most movies require a closed door in order to be watched properly.

Nevertheless, if you don’t find yourself in one of these three positions, then I am a firm believer in the open door policy.