Dorm Life at the University of Oregon
- Katie Lynn
- Aug 14, 2019
- 5 min read
Around this time nearly a year ago, I was so anxious about living in the dorms. I was preparing to spend the next nine months in a small room with someone I have never met. Dorm life typically has a negative connotation assisted with it...I mean who really does enjoy living in a small space with another person (stranger), sharing bathrooms/showers, eating the same food every day, and being stuck on campus 24/7? It might seem as though dorm life is going to drag on forever, but from my experience at the University of Oregon, it was not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. There are many factors that play a role in dorm life, all of which are extremely important: room size, roommate(s), bathrooms, food, and the dreaded laundry. Of course living in the dorms was not the most ideal thing, but it is necessary to get the true freshman college experience and a great way to make new friends! Here, I will reflect on each of the factors and my dorm life experience at the University of Oregon.
Room Size/Hall
Residence Halls: Kalapuya Ilihi, Global Scholars Hall (GSH), Hamilton, Walton, Carson, Living Learning Center (LLC), Earl, Riley, and Barnhart.
Residence Hall Rankings
Living Learning Center
Global Scholars Hall
Kalapuya Ilihi
Hamilton
Carson
Earl
Walton
Barnhart (off campus)
Riley (off campus)
Luckily, I was placed in a large double in LLC, which is a pretty large room and the building is right on campus. Living in LLC had a huge impact on my dorm experience because it is newer than some of the other buildings, and it has large doubles opposed to regular doubles, which are much smaller. My room was spacious which made it nice when I had friends over or wanted to study in the room without feeling overwhelmed. I was also able to loft my bed, which made my side of the room seem even bigger. Living in a large double made living with another person much easier because we both had our own side of the room. LLC also has a bistro on the first floor, which meant it was easy to roll out of bed and grab some food or coffee before class. We also had two study lounges and a tv lounge on our floor. Overall, I really enjoyed my dorm room and my hall. Everyone on my floor was so nice and we would all hangout in the lounges at times. The large double was a perfect size for me especially because I had SO MUCH STUFF!
Roommate(s)
Fortunately, I was placed in a double, so I only had one roommate. I had originally planned on rooming with one of my best friends, but something happened with our applications and that did not work out. So, I was initially placed with a different girl in Earl Hall, but there was no way I was going to live in Earl (the rooms are small), so I found an empty spot in LLC and switched into the large double. By switching to a different room, I basically neglected the whole roommate matching process and ended up with someone completely random. When you get your room assignment, you get your roommates phone number, so her and I talked a bit before school and seemed to get along fine. Living with another person, especially a stranger, is not easy. Thankfully her and I got along and it was not as bad as some of the horror stories I have heard from friends and family. It also helped that we had a large double, so we both had our own space. However, if there is one thing I have learned from my roommate experience, it is that everyone's version of "clean" is different. I did not have a horrible roommate experience, but I did not end up being best friends with my roommate either. Anyway, learning to live with another person in a small space can be difficult, but communication is SO important and it is important to let your roommate know that your space is your space.
Bathrooms
There is not much to comment on in regards to the bathrooms. In LLC there is a women's and men's bathroom on each floor. The women's bathroom had six showers and six toilets (I think), so waiting for a shower to be open was never really an issue. The bathrooms were cleaned almost every day, which was nice because they would be gross sometimes, especially after the weekend. I lived a few doors away from the bathroom, so that was also really convenient. The bathrooms were not as bad as I thought they would be. My sister went to UC Berkeley, where she had to share a bathroom with both boys and girls on her floor, which you can imagine is probably gross.
Laundry
Laundry in LLC was super convenient and easy. There is a laundry room on each floor with two washers and two dryers. Laundry is $1.50 a load, which adds up quick so I would try to only do laundry once a week. Doing laundry was pretty easy, but sometimes it would take awhile for a washer or dryer to open up because people would leave their clothes in the washer or dryer after it finished. Our floor made a ten minute policy, where if someone left their clothes in there for more than ten minutes after it was finished, you could move it to a bag and set it on top of the laundry machines. This policy helped, but I still felt bad moving people's laundry, so I would usually Just wait for someone to come get it. Having laundry on our floor was really convenient because some of the other dorms have it in the basement, which makes it more of a hassle.
Food
Dining Halls: Barnhart Dining, Big Mouth Burrito, Carson Dining, Common Grounds Cafe, Grab n Go, Dux Bistro, Fire 'n' Spice, Fresh Marketcafe, and Puddles Cafe.
The food was the BEST part of living on campus! University of Oregon has a great selection of food for students living on campus. There is a wide variety of food and many different dining halls to go to, so I never really got tired of the food. The dining halls also have many healthy options, which made it easier to fight the "freshman fifteen." I really enjoyed sandwiches from Grab n Go in Hamilton, and the Mac n Cheese from the Fresh Marketcafe in GSH. Common Grounds Cafe also had good coffee, chai, and smoothies!
Dorm Necessities
Rolling Cart (see pictures)
Foam Mattress Pad
Desk Lamp
Mirror
Power Strips
Mini Fridge
Keurig
Dorm life at the University of Oregon was not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I truly enjoyed my time in the dorms and I think it is something every college student should experience. Freshman year of college is a huge time of growth, and learning how to live on your own, take care of yourself, maintain your health, and keep up on schoolwork is all a part of it. I learned so much during my freshman year of college and I am a completely different person walking out of freshman year than I was walking into it. Living in the dorms allowed me to meet so many people that helped make my freshman year unforgettable.
留言