• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Life / Freshmen / The Worst Dorm Room Gave Me My Best Memories

The Worst Dorm Room Gave Me My Best Memories

September 16, 2020 //  by Jessica Comstock

FacebookTweet

The summer before I started college, I put all my free time towards one thing: my future dorm room. I had lived in the same house, in the same room, for 18 years of my life. I was eager to move into a new space to spend my days in throughout my first year at school.

My Pinterest boards quickly filled with aesthetically pleasing dorm room goals. Posters lining the walls, adorable bed sets, photos of my high school friends, hanging plants—the whole nine yards. I spent hours studying the dimensions and photos my school provided of the residence halls in order to plan the perfect room setup. Every photo I saw of the dorm rooms, my eyes mostly fixated on the beautiful large floor to ceiling windows that would look out to campus.

When I arrived on move-in day, that big beautiful window in my room? It was half the size and looked into a concrete window well.

Photo by Jessica Comstock

The room shocked me. I spent so many hours of my summer looking at photos of the residence halls, planning my room décor, and expecting to wake up every morning to the sun beaming into the room. Rather than sunlight and large trees, our window looked out into a pile of dead leaves. Not only was the window smaller, but the room was also smaller than others (yes, I measured) and had shorter ceilings that prevented us from fully lofting our beds.

One of the worst things about the room: it was in a side hallway away with only a couple of other rooms nearby. Instead of having a large community of floormates to meet, only four or five other girls even walked down our hallway. I originally hoped to make friends by propping my door open, as older students often suggested. Now that this seemed impossible, I struggled to imagine how an introvert like myself could easily meet new people.

I’m not going to lie; my roommate and I felt really bummed out about the room. It didn’t live up to our expectations. I spent the entire move-in weekend complaining about the window well view. We constantly talked to other students, trying to see if anyone had a similar situation. We even asked to switch rooms within the first few days of being there, knowing we weren’t allowed room changes during the first two weeks on campus.

Because the room I had hoped would be bright and homey was so dark and dreary, I spent my days sitting in the lobby of my residence hall. I naturally ended up talking to a lot of people walking by, whether it was just saying hi or having a full conversation. My window well room, which my roommate and I nicknamed “The Dungeon” became a conversation starter with other students in my hall. I had a reason to invite them to come to see my room, and then they would offer to show me theirs.

In my time spent complaining about the lack of natural light, I was able to find something far more important. Friends.

dorm room
unsplash.com

My roommate, myself, and some newfound friends spent almost every afternoon in the lobby. Other students in our residence hall told us that they expected us to be there every day when they came back from class. Some other friends called us the “lobby girls.” The lobby soon became what I had hoped my own room would be: a place that I loved to spend my time. In the lobby, we studied, ate, told stories, danced, and were definitely way too loud some days. If the school assigned us a room with that dreamy big bright window, I’m not sure if my introverted self would’ve gotten out of my room to make the memories I did in that lobby.

While my roommate and I eventually moved into a dorm room that looked like the one I had always imagined, my few months in The Dungeon shaped my college experience for the next four years. Without the concrete slab view, I wouldn’t have some of the best friends, and the best memories that I have now.

FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Campus life Freshmen Life

About Jessica Comstock

Jessica is a junior studying Magazine Media and Politics at Drake University. She enjoys political podcasts, cats, and vegan chicken nuggets.

You May Also Like

Hold on! Being Waitlisted Is Not the End of Your Dreams

group

From Introvert to President: How to Rise with Your Eyes on the Prize

The College Pitfalls of Not Asking Questions

Islamic School to Catholic School: A Mile Away, But Worlds Apart

Halloween Isn’t the Only Time for Ghosting Anymore

And Suddenly, I Found Myself Living With a Stranger

Unapologetically Christian: Standing Up for My Faith in the Classroom

Not What I Thought: UCLA First-Year Reflections of Fall Quarter

friends posing together

The First Week Friend Group and My Journey to Forever Friends

Away from Home and Feeling Gross: Being Sick My Freshman Year

two women smiling and laughing

Goodbye, Awkward Small Talk: 10 Ways to Get to Know Your Roommate

Do More To Get More: My Philanthropy Journey at Penn State

A Journey to Home Through a College Acceptance

Why I Love Being The Little Fish In The Big Pond

graduate

To Decide or Not to Decide: The Paradox of Choice in College Decisions

TV to Teacher: When My Life Plans Took a Different Direction

The Worst Dorm Room Gave Me My Best Memories

introvert

Introverts Don’t Need A Cure, But We Need Confidence

teens sitting together laughing and studying

15 Surprising Benefits of Attending Community College

double life

Living a Double Life: Life as a First-Generation Student

My Most Important College Experience Was No College Experience

Not Everyone Tasted A Bar of Soap Growing Up and That’s Okay

No, Mom, I am NOT Going to UF

young men at the beach

10 Rites of Passage for Your Freshman Year at USD

Previous Post: « I Felt Like an Imposter in College: Financial Aid’s Stigmas
Next Post: 10 Invaluable Skills You Get from Learning and Working Virtually »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

102

10 St. John’s University Finals Activities to Help You De-Stress

mental health
95

Pandemic and Academic Blues: Being Aware of Your Mental Health

68

Top 10 Colleges With the Most Fashionable Students

Broadway
25

10 Musical Soundtracks to Make Study Sessions That Much Easier

23

A Gator’s Bucket-List: 21 Things to Do Before Graduating From UF

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.