Introduction to the Dorm Life

College is a start to a new fresh life, adapting and transition to new experience and surroundings are a key to getting through it. For countless college freshman students, it’s their first time living away from home. It seems that out of nowhere their parents disappear and they have to take on a whole new responsibility and independence of living on their own. The undergraduates moms and dads aren’t there any more to cook, clean, do their laundry, wash the dishes, and tell them when to wake up for school. These are things that freshman students have to do on their own in order to survive their new lives. These changes are all very abrupt, so these students have to adapt to their surroundings extremely quickly. But while embracing this new independence and responsibility, they also have to study and focus on their coursework. One of the vital factors in a freshman’s life is the dormitory setting. Through the decades, the dorm life has gone from just men with strict guidelines, to men and women with disjointed residences, to co-ed dorms. Freshman dorms are full of young adults socializing and/or studying together. But for most, this provides a whole new experience of living with hundreds of other people and living in a social setting all the time. First-year students need to learn to balance their school responsibilities, their housekeeping responsibilities, and their social lives with out the help of a parent or guardian to guide them. Observing freshman students living in the fresh start in the new dorms gives an insight to how they transition in their new quest of living on their own in both socializing and studying aspects. Furthermore, demonstrates how they interact with each other; their daily habits, and how well they are keeping pace with the rest of the university. Males tend to like to be more isolated when studying and act the same way everywhere while socializing. While women are able to study in groups and act differently depending on where they are during socialization. Gender roles do play a role in socialization, studying, and the mixture of the two.