It’s move-in time once again for those of us living on-campus, and many moving into the residence halls are first-year students coping with living away from home for the first time.
As someone who has lived in the dorms before, I have learned a few things that might come in handy for those who are new to living in a confined space with a lot of people.
First of all, the doors on Cal State Long Beach dorm rooms are equipped with deadbolts. Those knobs are not just there for show. Yes, they are used mainly to lock rooms up during breaks when residents are not in the rooms, but they have other uses as well.
For example, they are a great way to keep the door from locking behind you if you want to use the restroom or visit a friend next door. Also, a deadbolt is a lot more effective than the old rubber-band-on-the-door trick. Rubber bands (and scrunchies, bandanas, scarves, etc.) can fall off or be removed from the doorknob.
Time it takes to lock the door: about two seconds. Time it takes to overcome the awkward aftermath of being walked in on in the throes of passion: not even Einstein could figure out that formula.
Dorm food is infamous for being about as appetizing as airplane or hospital fare. While Residential Dining has created some rather good meals, there are a few good points to remember.
Days where chicken strips, “crispitos” or hamburgers are served are probably the days most meat-eating residents will not want to miss. Those particular days are also the days when the dining rooms are the most crowded. Come early or when the hall is about to close because crowds are smallest then.
If peak meal time is unavoidable and both sides of the hot food area are open, go to the side farthest from the card swiper. It is most likely less crowded.
On the other hand, chocolate chip and mint chocolate flake ice cream are both very popular flavors. They are rather rare, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is an incredibly difficult treat to score. When any of these are on the ice cream menu, do not wait. Those times are the ones where it is better to say “screw it” to the conventional meal order. The sandwich station will be there until the hall closes, but that one tub of ice cream will be long gone by the time the last bite of ham and cheese goes down.
My suite last year discovered all too soon first-floor residents are privy to pretty much every movement the residents above them make. Midnight games of Dance Dance Revolution or early morning basketball games are not appreciated. And the vibrating from subwoofers on the floor can knock nails out of the ceiling down onto people below.
If there’s one last piece of advice I have to give, it’s this: Try to make the most of your time in the residence halls. There are some really awesome people living there who have ideas to share, stories to tell and (in the case of a few of my friends) some really interesting plans involving the use of womens’ shaving gel, the local park and a video camera.
Allison Baldwin is a sophomore journalism major and an assistant city editor of the Daily Forty-Niner.