dorms

It’s that time of the year — students have finished their finals, have experienced the panicked scramble to use up their last few flex dollars and, if you’ve just finished your first-year, have fully moved out of the dorm rooms you called home for the past year. 

Throwing a surprise party can be extremely nerve-wracking, especially in a shared living space where the person you are trying to surprise can walk in at any given moment.

After spending nearly an entire school year living in the residence halls, residents face many niche and unique experiences in their dorms. So, I’ve compiled a list of what I think your freshman dorm says about you (even if you were given no choice). 

As I watched those around me find one another and sign leases, my panic grew; in contrast to my peers, who seemed to have everything figured out from location to money to roommates, I didn’t have a tentative — or really any — plan in mind. 

You’re stuck — you already walked in and exchanged the head nod and tight-lipped smile with the tooth-brushers. It’s too late to back away. So what do you do now? 

As a first year myself who’s still very much learning how to make UC Berkeley their home, I had plenty of expectations before setting foot on campus.

It feels a bit like the COVID-19 pandemic has split the UC Berkeley student population into two groups: those living on campus and those living at home.

To be honest, though, as a freshman who has yet to step foot on campus, I don’t really know anything about UC Berkeley's residence halls.

For freshmen, bunk beds are an omnipresent feature of college life. No matter who you are, your bed placement often determines your place in the dynamics of the room.