For many students, moving into a dorm is their first real taste of independence. Between figuring out how to live away from home and starting a new chapter, the little moments become part of a bigger picture.
In the spirit of the back-to-school season, here are three dorm anecdotes – two from Eastern Michigan University students, and one from myself – that show how even small things can make a dorm feel like home.
AJ Grams, a fellow artist at The Eastern Echo, recalled a time regarding a dorm spider during their sophomore year. While recovering from a brief sickness, they received an unexpected knock at the door from a panicked neighbor in Walton Hall.
“She asked me to kill a spider,” Grams said. “She just came to my door and was like, ‘Hi, I don’t know you, but can you come and kill a spider?’”
After AJ’s partner stepped in to handle the eight-legged intruder, the incident became a running joke between friends for the rest of the year.
Savannah de Bock, a student in Lakeview Apartments, reminisced about a time when they were entering their room whilst distracted.
"I went up the stairs and walked to my room, too busy talking to notice the wrong number on the door," de Bock said. "So I push the door of what I expected to be my room, and see an iron on the floor. I do not have an iron on the floor."
After escaping the room, a repeat incident nearly occurred shortly after. de Bock was able to avoid the embarrassment by checking the room number in time, keeping spirits high with jokes and laughter.
During my first night of freshman dorm housing in Hoyt Hall, I was eager to see everything EMU had in store. After a late-night scheduling session, my suitemates came into the room, inviting me to a pancake breakfast the following morning. The smell of syrup and the sound of Guitar Hero drifting through the dorm room is still one of my core EMU memories.
“It’s always a tradition to always play ‘Free Bird,'" my suitemate claimed.
These stories don’t make breaking news, but they form the everyday lives of university students everywhere. In the end, school is not just about grades or diplomas – it’s the choices you get to make and the fun you have along the way.
