Living in a Dorm

My entire life, I’ve lived in a very quiet suburb. The most noise I ever heard at night was an occasional car driving in the street behind my house. Having complete silence while trying to sleep at night was a luxury that I took advantage of… until I started living in my dorm.

Don’t get me wrong, I have loved most aspects of living in a dorm room so far. I enjoy living in the same place as so many other people my age, I love being able to live with my friends. But there was one thing that my roommate and I learned very quickly. The walls are paper thin, and the ceiling isn’t exactly sound proof either. My roommate and I can hear everything that goes on in our neighbors’ rooms, like enough to make us feel creepy, as if we are intentionally eavesdropping. Above us is a boy’s floor, and we can hear enough to make us wonder, “what weird things are these boys doing at 2am?”

It’s been a very strange adjustment being so aware of the people living near me. At first, I would get so frustrated because my neighbors would have people over in their room until 3am on a Monday night, and a Tuesday night, and a Wednesday night…. But recently, my roommate and I have started having a different mindset with our neighbors. If we are going to feel creepy for being able to hear everything that happens next door, we might as well actually listen.

We have heard some really entertaining things recently that serve as a great reminder that college is a strange time. We have heard arguments about who left an entire jar of salsa spilled on the carpet, we recently heard that someone came into their room and rearranged all of their furniture but did not steal anything. At least listening to my neighbors has taught me to always lock our door. And, I should note, that I do wonder how many strange conversations they’ve heard my friends and I having. It really is strange being able to hear what people are like when they are under the impression that nobody else can hear them… and it really is strange being able to, or being forced to, hear those conversations.