Do’s
- Work out a shower schedule with your roommates before the semester starts.
- Wear shower sandals in the freshman dorm showers. This prevents anyone from giving or
getting nasty foot fungus. - Try to workout at least 2 3 times a week. The freshman 15 is real and an understatement.
- Ask your roommates permission before having any guests sleepover, especially guests of the opposite sex.
- E-mail and communicate with your roommate(s) every year before moving in to determine who is bringing what. You don’t want to show up with three TVs and nowhere to put them.
- Respect those you live with and clean up after yourself. Clean your dishes, don’t leave your crap everywhere especially the floor, and don’t expect others to clean it for you.
- Get to know people living on your floor, you never know when you may need something.
- Go to floor events and meetings. RAs put in a lot of effort to organize events and you will get to know everyone who lives on your floor.
- Stock up on Ramen, Easy Mac, breakfast bars, hot chocolate, bottled water, and dry cereal.
Quick, easy, cheap, and perfect drunk snacks. - Bring a fan AND extra blankets. Dorm temperatures are the worst and never seem to be on the right setting, even if you can control your own unit. You may be from New England and your roommate is from Arizona and want the heat on 90 at all times. Always be prepared.
Don’ts
- Don’t take other people’s clothes out of the washer or dryer. That’s gross especially if it’s their personal load, just wait until one becomes available. Nothing is more annoying than coming down 10 minutes after your washing machine cycle has ended to find another girl with an arm full of your panties and socks because she couldn’t wait the 10 minutes.
- Don’t set off the fire alarm with your hair dryer or flat iron. Not only will you have to pay a fine for having the fire department come, but you may get written up and annoy everyone in your building.
- Don’t try to make pizza or toast at 3 AM when you come home drunk. You will set off the fire alarm and you will be fined.
- Don’t sleep with your roommate’s girl or boyfriend. Bad news.
- Don’t prop the doors to the building open, that’s how strangers and rapists get in.
- Lock the door to your room at night. Drunken people will think they are in their room and crash on your couch or in your bed
- Don’t leave your room unlocked, even if you are only going down the hall. You run a very high risk of having your laptop and other valuables stolen.
- Don’t smoke in your room. You will pay a fine, get written up, and, depending on your smoking, may get arrested.
- Don’t cover the smoke detector with a towel. If your RA sees it, you will be written up and may even be fined, not to mention it’s a fire hazard.
- Don’t press snooze ten times in the morning, especially before 9 AM. You will lose friends.