A Dorm I Call “Home”

It takes time for me to trust someone and become friends with them. This was the reason why I hesitated in moving into a dorm with three other girls. I thought that even just having one roommate would be uncomfortable for me. But after talking to my friends, they told me that dorm life is what makes school life better because your roommates will be your first friends in college. I didn’t understand it at first. When I first moved in, I felt the need for space. Everywhere I turned, there was someone new to meet and I was scared that people who aren’t a part of my family would be seeing my daily activities. 

I spent the first few nights alone in my bed while my roommates went to meet their high school friends. I was mostly alone until one of my roommates asked if I was interested in going to the Irvine Spectrum. I thought why not? — maybe it will give me a chance to get to know my roommate better. I’ll admit that it was very awkward, but it gave me that little push to approach my roommates. From there, my other roommate took me around the hall to introduce ourselves to our hallmates. The quiet hall started to fill up with boisterous laughter, guitar strums and friendly chatter. 

I remember my roommates asking if I wanted to skip the Anteatery and go for In-N-Out. When I asked what that was, I felt all eyes on me. That was when they started planning a list of things I should do to immerse into a new environment. They called it the “May tries out America” list, and that was the start of an exciting dorm life. 

Dorm life allowed me to meet new people who were willing to help me despite having only known me for a few months. During my second year, I was extremely stressed out and was not able to give myself time to go get food or make food for myself. My hallmates who lived across my room found out about this and brought food for me. To me, it’s those little things that helps me call my dorm, my home. When my resident advisor found out that I had never gone trick or treating, she convinced me to follow along on the hall’s trick or treating night. My roommates who were busy with their own school work made time to introduce me to this whole new world of Halloween. There were so many “firsts” that I experienced in dorm life: I was invited to be a proctor for the Science Olympiad, attended my first Aldrich Park concert, went on my first, late night hunt for ice cream, visited the annual corgi festival in Huntington Beach, and so much more. We celebrated each other’s birthdays every year by throwing a surprise party, and an exploding kitten game night. Fried chicken became birthday meals. Fridays became our movie nights. And cookie butter became our go-to ice cream flavor. 

Dorm life blessed me with so many memories I would never forget. On top of that, I have roommates whom I’ll be rooming with for my entire four years in UCI. Three of us have grown so close that it feels strange when one of us is missing. We developed roommate traditions since our first year and maintained them throughout the pandemic. On my 21st birthday this year, my roommates sent me fried chicken to keep up with the tradition despite us not being able to share a room together due to the pandemic. 

I found comfort in dorm life: the chaos, the laughter and even the music booming from the room across the hall. The thud of the frisbee hitting against the hallway walls became an environment that made me feel safe. It gave me a sense of belonging. I felt like I fit into this community. Best of all, I found a place I can call home.