Friday Five - Dorm Life

Today's Friday Five is a lot of fun to me. As much as I love the freedom of owning my own home, I do miss my days in the dorm. I had great room/suite mates and we had a lot of fun together. The "back to school" season was harder on me than I thought it would be this year and I was exceptionally jealous of all those who were buying these exciting new things in fun, bright colors. My dorm room was done in varying shades of purple so I had a good time trying to find purple stuff in the midst of all the bright pink, green, blue, and black. I was good and resisted the urge to buy all kinds of organizational goodies, but it was fun to reminisce.

What was the hardest thing to leave behind when you went away to school for the first time? - I really don't know that I had a hard time leaving anything. I was so excited about going and I knew I was only an hour away from home so nothing seemed impossible to access.

We live in the age of helicopter parents. How much fuss did your parents make when you first left home? - Not as much of a fuss as I think they (and I) had anticipated. My brother had gone away to boarding school the year before and I think it threw everyone for a loop to have the baby move away before the older one. Then, my mom was having health problems and had been in the hospital the week before I moved and she was unable to physically help me move in. She came to visit later because she insisted on seeing my room for herself, but overall it wasn't as big a deal as I expected. I think they had a harder time once I was actually gone!

Share a favorite memory of living with schoolmates, whether in a dorm or other shared housing. - Christmas the year I lived on the 7th floor of Bruno with Sarah, Sarah, Shelley. I decorated over Thanksgiving so we had a tree and lights and garland and stockings and all kinds of stuff all over the place. We had our very own little "family" Christmas during exams and opened presents and acted completely goofy and it was wonderful!

What absolute necessity of college life in your day would seem hilariously out-of-date now? - It was only 7 years ago that I first went away to school, so I don't know if that much is different. I guess the closest thing to "out of date" that I had was a land line phone!

What innovation of today do you wish had been a part of your life in college? - Wireless internet and laptops in class. I had them for my M. Div but not at Birmingham-Southern and they would have made life SO much easier!