Dorm Life

As most of you know, my wife and I live on a college campus.   We have lived in an apartment in a dorm lobby four out of the last five years (one year we lived in a house on campus).   In fact, Katy has lived in the dorms since she came to SNU as a Freshmen in 2003!  It is certainly an interesting and entertaining lifestyle, keeping us young at heart as we interact with college students to the we hours of the morning. (And by we I mean Katy...my bedtime is 10:30.)

Whenever people ask where I live and I tell them, they always ask the same question in the same way.  With a tone of disbelief they ask, "Oh yeah? What is that like?" Half of the time it is because they think we actually live in a dorm room and I think the other half thinks "Why in the world would you live in a dorm in general?"  

I have to say it's a legitimate question because not many "grown ups" have the opportunity (or the desire) to live in a dorm.  And I must admit that it was not my first choice in places to live and there is quite a bit of sacrifice that comes with it.  However, when my wife had the opportunity to have her dream job, I wanted to support her to the best of my ability, even if it meant living in a dorm.

I could have put my foot down as a new husband and said that I didn't want to live in the dorm as a newlywed man and Katy would have been a supportive wife and honored that decision.  I'm so glad I supported her because I would have missed out on so many other opportunities and most importantly, I would have kept Katy from experiencing her dream job and finding her passion, and I would have missed being a part of it along the way.

Dorm life is coming to an end for now.  Katy earned a promotion and now has some additional responsibilities.  Long story short we are moving out of the dorms and into an on campus house.  I am definitely ready to move on but there are things I WILL MISS about living in a college dorm in random order.

1.  Unlimited hot water.

2.  Free laser printer.

3.  Monitored security cameras.

4.  The ability to have large gatherings in the lobby during breaks.

5.  On call maintenance.

6.  Friendly faces stopping by to say hi.

7.  No utility bills!

8.  Pranks and scares.

9.  Having a tornado shelter close by.

10.  Having a meal plan for the cafeteria!

At the same time, there are quite a few things that I WILL NOT MISS about living in a college dorm!

1.  Fire Alarms! (Nothing worse than making 300 people evacuate because you wanted bacon on a Saturday morning!)

2.  Noisy neighbors or worrying about being too loud (baby crying) for sleeping neighbors.

3.  Tiny showers.

4.  Knocks on the door interrupting dinner, conversations, and family time.

5.  Pretending not to be home when people are knocking and Katy isn't home.

6.  People knocking at random hours because they are locked out of their rooms.

7.  Fire Alarms! (Nothing like burnt popcorn at 2:30am!)

8.  Being in charge of hundreds of people during a tornado.

9.  Living in a huge building during Christmas and Summer breaks.  (It's pretty creepy.)

10.  Fire alarms! (Nothing like blowing out birthday candles and having the fire dept. show up!)

It's been a great 5 years and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.  However, with Beau Bradley coming into our lives I think it is perfect timing to see what it's like to live in a house and not in a building with nearly 300 people.  It will be an adjustment for sure, but one that we are looking forward to.