One of my biggest dreams was to have the dorm experience of college. Why? I mostly blame a handful of movies and tv shows from the 2000s. When I went to community college and then briefly onto Azusa Pacific University (15 minutes from home) - I felt like it was a dream that I knew was long gone.
7 years later when I got into UCLA, the opportunity presented itself, and I knew I had to take it. These stories, in particular, have taught me a lot about how great and unexpected life can be.
These are my experiences being a 24-25-year-old living among 19-21-year-old college students (most of whom, were experiencing the "traditional" course of life.)
Quick memories:
- Food swipes & (allegedly) the best campus food spots in the country.
- Late-night De Neve vegan nuggets and fries (*drool)
- Feast. Enough said.
- Healthy-eats @ B-Plate
- Veggie burrito bowl & the sushi bowl at Rendezvous!
- Pizza & the yummy side salad at Cafe 1919 (oo plus a side treat of ice cream! & their pizza bagel in the afternoons)
- The vegan bbq sandwich at BCaf (a hit or miss) with a Bruin Fresh, or Mango Madness smoothie!
- Playing racketball and taking Ninjutsu classes at BFIT
- Having papers handed to you left and right on Bruin Walk down the hill; eventually finding the backside to avoid it all.
- Guest passes for visitors
- Tumbling and late-night studies in the cove lounge
- Early showers so that they were clean and people hadn't used them yet; having to use a caddy!
As of August 31, 2016 - I was set to live on De Neve Holly floor 10 - room 104. It's crazy to think that if I didn't receive this email from a Vivian, I wouldn't have met the people who would eventually become some of my closest friends today.
Holly was supposed to be where the "transfer students" were - (although it was technically only on a couple of the floors that I was not able to get into - overflow students were generally kept in the same building). Moving to Sproul Cove had one advantage: it was a newer building with slightly bigger rooms, and one disadvantage: it was primarily for 2nd/3rd-year (traditional) students. Meaning that, as opposed to Holly, there would be a 20% chance that there would be someone even close to my age in it.
Our personalities all meshed together so well that they honestly became like sisters to me, and I absolutely couldn't have asked for better roomies.
Other interesting coincidences: Danie, Marie, and I all happen to have a similar faith background, all have a sister that we are close to (who all got married within the 2 years we've known each other), and are all planning to go to law school.
I knew what I was getting myself into with the age situation & honestly at the end of it all, it didn't matter at all. People were always initially surprised to find out, but I never felt ashamed because of it - in fact, being with so many younger people gave me the fully authentic experience that I hoped for. It was like I went into a time machine and became everyone else's age too. Feeling 20 again had its perks too. I felt free to make silly "irresponsible" decisions like - staying up all night talking with friends, or going on late-night food runs on school nights. It also felt good not to have a full-time job anymore - or a job in general, and be a full-time student for the first time in 8 years.
But also, at times, I was reminded of the 4 more year gap when I found myself unexcited about drinking or partying all the time, or giggling at the trivialities of college dating and F*boys that friends were dealing with, or finding that I had a certain kind of appreciation for this experience; where, a lot of people in the dorms definitely just felt like it was not a big deal for them to be there at that moment.
I miss standing on top of the drawer and climbing over the railings onto my bed; hearing that familiar wood creaking in the process.
I miss the night chatter on nights I'd be in bed while other students (usually a part of Greek life) were walking back to their dorms outside... giggles and the occasional yelling of a guy who sounded like he was trying to impress a group of girls.
I miss the quick glances at the hundreds of lives unfolding through windows across the building.
I found that, because many of the people on our floor were on their 2nd or 3rd year of school, they already had friends who didn't live on our floor. In an effort to get to know everyone better, I proposed an idea to our RA, where I would interview as many people as I could, take their polaroid picture, have them sign the picture, and post the image of their polaroid on Facebook along with a blurb about what I learned in my interview. Again, in hindsight, very dorky... I just wanted to dive deeper than the quick hellos through the hallway.
I wish I could go back in time.
Was it one of the best experiences of my life? Hell. Yes. & I think that anyone who has the opportunity to dorm, absolutely should. Or if not, find opportunities that are new and allow you to be surrounded by people and situations that you normally wouldn't, and then go through it as though you are being given a second chance at it. Maybe easier said than done?
