Living in Campus

By: Siyoo Kim and Yen Park

Surviving college is one thing, living the dorm life makes up for another story. 

Living in a dorm has got to be an additional burden especially for the freshmen. Aside from the transition from high school to college, this will be their new home for the next few months. They say that dorm life is not for the weak of heart. The fact that you will be living miles away from your family, friends and the place you’ve called home the rest of your life, you will be surrounded by people you may have never met before. On a different note, college dorm living is actually not that bad. It will also provide opportunities for socializing with roommates and to make friends with the other residents.

IC or International Center-UP Diliman, a dormitory inside the university, caters mostly to foreign students; majority of them are from Japan and Korea. Language differences, like having difficulty speaking in English more than anything, is a big problem. “Its hard to be alone in the dorm, but its sure easy to get lonely,” says a resident. 

The dormitory, like most of the buildings here in the university, is old and in need of new furnishings and reconstructions. Furnished with a bunk bed and a stool and table, a room is small enough to house 2 people comfortably. The bathroom is shared by 2 rooms. Given that, having to decide who gets to use it first is a common problem. During our interview, one student noted that “the bathroom is dirty and awful.” According to the residents, shortage of the supply of water is their usual concern. However, they can just go as far as complaining about the lack of facilities like air conditioning and water heater. 

Most dormitories don’t allow their tenants to cook inside the rooms. Because much to the tenants’ dismay, pests and insects also frequent the old dorm. The closest they can get to a grocery store is the shopping center. 

Since residents do not get to pick their roommates, it may cause some drawbacks especially for foreign students. Compromising and conflicts between cultures and beliefs are inevitable. “I had a roommate who refused to kill a cockroach that we saw inside our room.. she said it was against her beliefs. I didn’t get to sleep for a week!,” a resident narrated. Borrowing just about anything from your roommate is also prevalent. “We start the week with a clean room, the place would look neat and everything is in their proper places. Towards the middle of the week, more than half of our beds are occupied by our things. Mostly clothes, soiled or not, we don’t remember,” joked Lee Ming, a resident of IC. 

Although living in a dorm may sound stressful and scary, it will give you the full campus experience that will make your college life a memorable one.