One school year consists of around 195 days. Add on Intersession, you are looking at spending the next 202 days (say hello to the fifteenth day of school) cramped up in a dingy little dorm room of about 90 square feet.
Tack on a roommate, add in the space needed for your bed, wardrobe and four stacked drawers. Now you have exactly 18.46 square feet of walking space to call home. Question of the day: "how do I survive in such closed quarters?"
More Space
The space problem is the number one issue on everyone's mind. Let's face it -- you do not become summa cum laude and get accepted into medical school with 18.46 square feet of studying space.
The housing facilities office offers bed lofting services to create the much desired breathing room. Students can get their beds to be quarter, half, or fully lofted, where a full loft can accommodate four stacked drawers, a wardrobe, a desk, or a combination of any two underneath.
If you and your roommate both decide to embrace the adventurer inside and fully loft your beds, then not only does your bed now comes fully equipped with a ladder and guard rail, but also your once-prison-cell-like room exposes an extra 36.23 square feet. Now, that's enough room to polka dance, hold two yoga mats and 18 pairs of designer shoes.
Keep it Clean
How many Dateline specials does it take to awaken the Mr. Clean within each and every single one of us? When your room is bright and organized, your mind is at peace, focused and concentrated and prepared to attack a full night of studying for that orgo midterm.
"My roommate and I clean at least once every week. We try to keep our room clutter-free and spacious," says freshman and Wolman West resident Hana Yoo, "however, our room still manages to collect dirty laundry and piles of unwanted papers. So, you really need to be meticulous about cleanliness."
Some recommend investing in an air freshener or opening the window in the rooms to explore the power of aromatherapy, to welcome the beauty of the seasons, and to beckon Mother Nature into your surroundings.
Decorations
Strategically, a "well-decorated room," as defined by Martha Stewart, is a "room that is bursting with your personality." Fill your walls with pictures of loved ones from home, that sexy poster of Orlando Bloom with his shirt off, or that amazing Van Gogh painting of the sunflowers. Either way, spice up your room with a little pinch of you!
BME graduate student Libet Santin moved off-campus her junior year. Remembering the sweet memories of living on-campus, Santin advises to "purify your room with items and objects that allow you to reflect upon your life. Find something that will trigger immediate thoughts of happiness, and place it in a setting where you can see it all the time."
Personal Touches
Some freshmen have great advice for creating nostalgia relief through the magic of interior-decor.
Roberto Soto, freshman, ornaments his room with panoramic landscape posters of the "Great American Sceneries" to create an "outdoorsy" atmosphere of freedom and tranquility.
Freshman and musician Elspeth Berry suggests that playing soft, relaxing music can also add an intimate, cozy feel to your dorm room, "I love walking into my room from a full day of classes and hearing Claude Debussy's 'Maid with the Flaxen Hair' playing on my computer. It just energizes me! I feel like I'm back at home, in my own room."
Whether it's through sparkling your room until it shines and reeks of Pine Sol and bleach, embarrassing photos of your friends at prom, or through Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body," find at least one way to personalize your room. Turn your dorm room into "the happiest place on earth."
