College is a huge change. You think it is just where you go to school and live, but you do not think about the things involved in that. You have to change where you study and write papers. At home I did all my work in my bedroom. No one ever came into my room. It was always quiet and peaceful. I could always focus on anything I needed to do. Now I have to do my homework in the library or my dorm room with people there. At college it is a whole new ball game. Now I have two roommates, Caity and Ashley. I love Ashley! She is great, we get along so well. We love all the same things and think alike! Caity on the other hand is not the best. We are north and south and could not be any different from each other. I have always taken pride on working for what I have and she has had everything given to her by her parents. It is to the point that she cannot comprehend why my parents do not give me everything and why I always have to work and cannot just throw money at everything.  She is an honors student and because of her we have to live on the honors floor now. The people are just like her.
There was a day when Ashley and I were in my dorm room to practice my five minute speech I needed to learn for the next day when all of a sudden Katrina, Caity’s friend, comes barging through the door and starts talking. She realizes what I am doing, stops, and looks at Caity. Caity gestures for her to keep talking even though I am practicing. They were talking about nothing. They could not leave and go to Katrina’s room next door? This was ridiculous; all I wanted to do was yell. I have no need to want her to like me. Everything she does makes me mad: she leaves her stuff everywhere, she always yells at us to lock the door when she never does, she stole my bed on move in day, she always has people in our tiny room, she talks all the time when I am trying to focus, she leaves her closet door open when I have to climb down from my bed and hit it every morning, her baby voice on the phone with anyone, she does things I told her about and do not get invited, she allows a ton of people to sleep in our room without asking me, and she allows people to use the printer when it is not even hers.
Dirty can be defined in many ways. Dirty to me is my roommate. She leaves her food containers everywhere without cleaning them. The other day she left an apple core in an easy mac container as she left for class. Ashley and I saw it. It was disgusting and we were probably going to get bugs or ants if she continues this kind of behavior. She never picks up. Half of her closet is on her bed and she still sleeps in it. She has the most space in our room and yet she still has her stuff everywhere.
Rude is being inconsiderate and uncompromising to everyone and everything. My roommates and I had a conversation about our living situation and how to make it work. Caity told us that she can only study in her bed and cannot listen to music or put in headphones or earplugs while studying. She told us that she hates when we talk while she studies because she cannot concentrate. Which makes her a hypocrite because Caity talks with her friends while Ashley and I study, like when Katrina came into the room while I was practicing my speech.
My acronym for CAITY is Clutter, Annoying, Ignorant, Tacky and Yucky. Clutter is for all the junk she has on her bed: the clothes, water bottles, blankets, and more clothes on her bed. Annoying is for how she acts all the time. Everything she does gets on my nerves. I mean I have flaws too: I talk too much, I’m loud, I am way too sarcastic, I try too hard at almost everything, I try too hard to get people to like me, and I give up fast, but I am not like her. Ignorant is for how she cannot think any other way than she already knows. Tacky is for the clothes she wears. She cannot match any colors and she dresses like a five year old. Yucky is for the nasty food and stuff she leaves everywhere.
My dorm room is a small nasty white room with two windows right next to each other. There is a single bed on the left side and a bunk bed on the right. Then, there is a closet on each side of the door and three desks in the middle of the room, two facing each other and the third has its chair’s back to the door. There is way too much furniture for such a small room. There is a dresser under the single bed, one under the bottom bunk bed, and one next to the closet on the left. Caity has the other half of under her bed and the space between her bed and desk to keep her stuff, but she extends it to in front of her closet were I have to climb down from my bed causing me to trip every morning.
All of this has caused me to not want to be at school or in my dorm room. I drive home, to Westford, every Thursday and come back on Monday at six in the morning. This takes a lot of time out of my week. Instead of studying or taking notes or writing papers I am driving, most likely in traffic. My grades are not too bad, they are pretty good actually, but I could put these two to four hours a week to much better use. This living situation has caused me to become a lot unhappier. I do not sleep enough at night because Caity needs the light on till two in the morning.
How do you like living with people other than your family? I do not mind living with people, but if having my own room is an option I will take it. I have a lot of little things that bother me. One is I like doors and drawers closed. My roommate always leaves the door and her closet doors open. Would you recommend living away at school? I would recommend it, but if you are not happy, try to change your situation. You are spending a lot of money on living at school so you should be happy about where you live. I just found out recently that Caity is moving down the hall and Ashley and I are finally getting the double we were supposed to have. I am so thrilled to live with just Ashley and cannot wait for Caity to be out.