Home away from Home
Dorms can be a lonely place, especially when your school resides in a different state from your home. Your room is smaller than you are used to. I mean since when did a shoe box count as a room? And who’s bright idea was it to crowd that space with the blandest, most mass-produced furniture known to builder kind? Sure, it functions, but you would have liked to have picked out a sleek desk that took up less space. Not to mention that thing they call a chair is stiffer than a board while somehow being uglier than the 70’s. But to burn it would bring charges, so you resign to making the most of it.
Once you get past the blandness, and feeling sorry for yourself, you realize that what you have here is a canvas. A blank slate that needs décor and life. You add in your nick-knacks, your cute desk supplies, and it looks brighter. Then you start to get clever, because drilling holes is a no-no, you use command hooks to hang your cork board with a pair of twisty ties. You add hooks over the door for more storage, not to mention those handy under-the-bed bins you found. You start deciding how to organize all those new outfits you got just for college and thank goodness for narrow hangers.
As you unpack, you meet your other dorm-mates. Conversations are struck up, topics running wild. From introductions to ‘how cute is this room!’ you find that you could talk for hours. You realize that you are all in the same boat, you’re all new to this. Everybody is parting ways with their family, friends and the homes they know. Maybe this will not be so bad after all.
When the unpacking is done, you sit and relax. Its one last breath of freedom before the work begins. You listen to your favorite tunes, you binge that Netflix show for what seems the last time, you lay around, relaxing in your new room. Latter you’re hungry, what is there to eat? Time to hit the cafeteria and see what is there. The lines are long, but the chatter is good, you meet a potential friend or two. Things are going well, maybe this will not be such a living hell. Food is decent, but your more interested in how you and your new friend both like the same shows. You discuss your favorite episodes, characters and more. The conversation moves on from shows to books, to what is your favorite color?
When you return to the dorm later in the evening, it’s to find yourself filled with a strange new feeling. What is it you pounder, as your brushing your teeth. Hope for things to be good? Excitement about seeing your friends again. No, you realize as you crawl into bed, it’s the feeling of comfort, the feeling of belonging that only happens when you are home.