Move-in is right around the corner — taking place Aug. 15-16 — and with that, the inevitability of dorm life can raise concerns for some new students.
If you’ve ever wondered how a UF student or alumnus could reminisce on living in cramped quarters, sharing a space with at least one other person and using communal bathrooms, the answer, according to 20-year-old UF data science junior Jack Mondel, is quite simple: Dorm life is what you make of it.
Mondel lived in Jennings Hall his freshman year. His biggest misconception going into dorm life was the assumption friendships would come immediately, he said.
“You have to ignite the social activity,” Mondel said. “It’s not going to come to you.”
Though he initially selected Jennings because of its reputation as a “social dorm,” Mondel said he still felt it was up to him to make the residence hall experience a social one.
For Mondel, meeting new people in his hall meant finding other students with common interests to connect with. Outside of the dorm at a fraternity pre-rush event, Mondel said he met one of his best friends, who just happened to be living in the same hall.
Mondel encourages new students to make the most of living on campus by breaking up the routine, he said.
“If you find that you keep going to the same places over and over and over again, maybe instead of making a turn at a certain light, go the other way,” he said. “There’s so much of campus to explore.”
While Mondel has remained friends with a couple of people he met during his first few weeks at UF, he warned this often isn’t the case. Still, he said he encourages students to embrace the initial friendships as a baseline.
Zoey Tabor, a 19-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior, and her roommate, 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior Alessandra de Simone, also remember their freshman dorm experience fondly.
Communication was something Tabor said the pair embraced as first-year roommates.
“We were just so open with each other always,” Tabor said.
Now, they are entering their third year of living together.
“It’s crazy that I’ve only known her for two years,” she said. “I feel like I don’t really remember life without her.”
When it comes to moving in with a stranger, Tabor encouraged new students to keep an open mind.
“I feel like a lot of people come in from different walks of life and are very close-minded about who they want to be friends with and what they’re used to,” she said.
Tabor said there’s a lot of value in freshmen living on campus their first year, and students should make the most of it.
Sydney Kollas, a 23-year-old performer in New York City and previous resident assistant in the Cypress area, dedicated two years as an RA to help students through their college experience.
To maximize productivity, she encourages students — especially those taking online classes — to embrace “third spaces” for work rather than isolating themselves in the dorm.
When it’s time for a break from work, Kollas recommends new students attend campus events. Kollas’ favorite events as a freshman were GatorDays, now GatorNights, hosted at the Reitz Union on Friday nights. These are a great way for new students to explore campus and meet new people, she said.
Attending sporting events is also a low-stress way to make new friends, she added.
“We have more than just basketball and football,” Kollas said. “I think it’s easy for people that don’t know each other very well to go and do an activity … In case they are stressed about talking and filling the silence, you’re just watching a game.”
Having experienced a difficult freshman year herself, Kollas advises new students to allow themselves time to adjust and avoid comparing their experiences to others.
College can look and feel different for every student, and comparison is never the way to improve self-esteem, said Dr. Nick Comeau, a licensed psychologist at Sage Wellness in Gainesville.
“It’s much better to compare yourself to yourself,” Comeau said. “It’s kind of [like] trying to beat your own benchmark.”
Leaving home and learning to be self-sufficient for the first time can be a scary and jarring experience for many students, Comeau said.
Learning to cope with stress and managing new tasks while living in a dorm can seem impossible, but Comeau shared his own acronym to guide new students.
“END stress,” he said. “‘E’ stands for exercise, ‘N’ stands for nutrition and ‘D’ stands for dive in.”
Comeau suggests finding a form of exercise that is exciting enough to complete consistently. Exercise aids adrenal gland function, he said, which can have profound impacts on overall stress levels.
“If a shyer person, for example, is feeling a little bit less stressed, they might be a little more open to trying something new and branching out,” Comeau said.
Consistent exercise for college students has other benefits, too, he said. It can improve thyroid function, which lifts mood and energy, and grow the neurotrophic factor in the brain to facilitate learning and memory.
When it comes to nutrition, Comeau suggests trying to eat as few processed foods as possible while living in a dorm. This could mean cooking for yourself in the dorm kitchen or taking advantage of the dining resources available, he said.
He highlighted two nutrients in particular: carbohydrates and protein.
It’s more important to prioritize complex carbs, he said, when prioritizing mental health. Healthy proteins are also crucial; they break down into amino acids, which are reconfigured into neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which promote good brain health.
The last component of this acronym, “dive in,” represents overcoming challenges during the transition to college life, he said. Exposure therapy is one of the most effective ways to cope, Comeau said.
And it manifests differently for everyone, he added. An introverted student might find exposure therapy in attending an event and meeting new people, he said, while the extroverted student may find it by taking time to be alone.
“No matter how stressed a person feels or how low they get, as long as your heart’s beating and you still happen to be alive, you always have the freedom to make a new choice,” Comeau said, “to redefine who you are moment by moment.”
Contact Kendall O’Connor at koconnor@alligator.org.
