Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor

Even those who have never lived in the residence halls have heard of the struggles. They’re usually small, often crowded and shared with a few hundred students. However, residence hall life doesn’t have to be as miserable as some make it out to be. As someone who lived in residence halls, I know the struggle of trying to be resourceful when the most common piece of advice is to pack lightly.

The first piece of residence hall survival is finding out what can be done with a limited number of appliances permitted in most of Western’s halls. One thing I didn’t enjoy was not having a kitchen. I didn’t want to be the typical college student living off of ramen for a whole school year. A simple example is smoothies made in a small blender for breakfast or a snack. It’s also possible, as I found out, to microwave regular pasta. This just goes to show that the key to living the best residence hall life is creativity.

Some things about residence hall-life merely have to be faced head on. Sharing the various facilities can be rough, but it’s unavoidable. It may take a while, but it’s usually possible to work out a routine that doesn’t clash with other residents.

When asked her advice for those living in residence halls, senior community health major Setareh Entagh, an RA for three years, said, “You can make the most (of it) by just getting involved with your hall. That can be by hanging out in the hall with hallmates, going to programs, studying together, et cetera. If you’re always in your room or outside of the hall you miss out on making friends and being a part of a community.”

For a final, slightly less utilitarian tip, my advice is to go all out in decorating. Put up all the posters or wall hangings with cheesy sayings on them. String lights everywhere. Make it a place you can comfortably study, eat and even hang out with friends. It may not be considered home for everyone, but it can be made the next best thing.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Photo courtesy of Ashlynn Norton

In the Western Howl’s original publication of this article, we referred to residence halls as “dorms.” This has been corrected.

We apologize for a comment we made comparing the appearance of the residence halls to prison cells. We have removed the comment.