What NOT To Do In A Dorm Room

Most of us, I’m sure, have experienced what it is like to live with other people. This could be in either just a shared apartment or house together or a college dorm or residence. There are so many guides telling you what to do when you go to college and what to bring or buy to make sure that you have a seamless transition and a good time. Hardly ever are there articles telling you what not to do, when in fact those can often be the most helpful. I’ve only been in a dorm for a few days now, and already I have learnt a plethora of important do’s (and particularly don’t’s) that I didn’t come across in any of these articles, but today I am going to share what I have learnt so far. Here is what I have discovered about what not to do in a dorm room …

DO NOT

Leave your room without your key (or your phone)

Here is something embarrassing for you – getting locked out of your room. Your key is on the other side of the door sitting on your bedside table and your phone, the only way you can try and contact anyone to get help, is seated comfortably beside it. Those doors can be tricky and have a mind of their own so if you don’t want to get stuck in the hallway wearing your pyjamas (or anything else that might be more or less humiliating for you) then always make sure that before you leave you have your key and your phone.

Forget a dressing gown in the shower/bathroom

Who has seen the movie How to Be Single? Well if you haven’t, I suggest you treat yourself and then come back to finish this article (small spoiler alert warning), but if you have, I am sure you remember when Alice drops her towel in the middle of the hallway on her way to the shower. You don’t have to be that guy because there is a way to avoid it. Instead of wandering around in your towel, rather wear a dressing gown and carry your towel along with your toiletries to and from the shower. This will protect you from having any unfortunate incidents as Alice had, you will be a lot warmer and feel a lot more comfortable, and also, I highly doubt that there are nice guys like Josh in every dorm hallway who will readily give up their towel for you at their own expense. My point – just wear a dressing gown.

Be inconsiderate

The most annoying thing in the world is when you are trying to sleep or get your work done and you can’t, all because someone who forgot that they live with other people has got their music on far too loud or seem to be having a conversation through a megaphone with someone on the moon. When you are living with other people around you, the worst thing you can do is be inconsiderate. If you are playing music/watching a movie/ having a phone call past 11 pm, then just turn it down. Treat your dorm-mates the way that you want to be treated (as I’m sure you would not like to be listening to their unusual music choices when you are busy cramming), and everything should be just peachy.

Neglect your laundry

Here is a scenario for you. You decide not to do your laundry right away because you have plenty of clothes. This keeps happening, and then one day you oversleep and are rushing to get ready but realise that all of your clean clothes (even those jeans that you rarely wear because they pinch at the top) are dirty, and you are stuck. You don’t want to end up in that position, so every so often (pick a day of the week/every two weeks that works for you) knuckle down and do your laundry just so that you always have a choice of what to wear, and you are never stuck with old and crinkly dirty clothes.

Forget about shower shoes

Sometimes you may not be staying in the nicest of places, but even if you do get lucky, most times the showers aren’t always pristine. They usually don’t get cleaned as often as they should so why would you risk the health and safety of your feet by going into the shower without shower shoes? Think of all the students before you who have used that shower and washed who knows what off of themselves – that muck is all sitting in the drain. I, for one, would not like any of that getting onto my feet and potentially causing a fungal infection, so just for your own safety, wear shower shoes in the shower.

Wait to empty your bin

Garbage is never a particularly attractive smell, especially when it comprises of old food and greasy remains from takeaways. Would you like that smell lingering around in your room while you sleep or work? I don’t think so. Even if you don’t mind it, I can assure you that your roommate and the rest of your hall will not be all that thrilled with you. So, try and empty your bin semi-regularly, for your hygiene and cleanliness as well as others.

Leave your dorm room unlocked (but take note of the first point)

While you’re away from home, everything that you hold near and dear to you you keep in your dorm room so why would you risk leaving it to chance that things would be taken and leave it unlocked? Most of my valuables I leave in my dorm room, so whenever I go, I always lock my door because I would rather be safe than sorry and have all of my valuables stolen. Do, however, remember the first point and have your key and phone with you because you do not now want to have all of your essential belongings safe, but you cannot get to them.

EVER leave your food unattended in the shared kitchen

When you are cooking, your food is like a child. It needs constant supervision and can never be left to its own devices. Firstly, leaving your food cooking alone in the shared kitchen can only be risky, as it could start burning and cause a fire that burns the whole place down! On a less dramatic note though, leaving your food unattended is asking for it to be eaten by someone else. You don’t want the dinner you spent hours making to either be burnt to a crisp or wolfed down by someone else, just because you went to the bathroom and got distracted checking your phone. Food is life so look after it!

Yes, I know that this list isn’t very long. There are two reasons for this though – one is that I haven’t been in a dorm very long so there are only a few things I have picked up and two is that once you know the general stuff, the rest you learn yourself. Anyway, I hope that you have found this blog post useful and helpful. If you are a college or ex-college student or just someone who has experience of living in dorms or residences and want to share your tips and experience, please feel free to share them with me as I would love to hear, and I could do with all the help that I could get. Please like and share this blog if you enjoyed it – so that we can grow our community. You guys are amazing – thank you for reading.

Lots of Love

Blondey on a Mission xxx