Smaller Sports

Making the best out of a small situation

How to make your tiny residence hall room feel more like home

By Kylie Corral

Assistant buzz Editor

With campus visits coming to an end, incoming students have gotten more familiar with campus. Now, it’s nearing the end of the summer, and new students are finding themselves worrying about moving to their residence halls and scrounging their current rooms for things worthy to take with them to campus.

Visiting the University and actually living at the University are two different things but both are just as exciting.

Nancy Huang, the residence hall director of Wassaja Hall, said students should learn more about their dorms by visiting the University’s Housing website to check out the dimensions of their rooms and the bed configurations. After learning how much room they will get, students can get started on figuring out what to pack.

“They have to do their research,” Huang said. “For students who are moving further away … sometimes you can’t put everything in the car, and that’s fine. I think there’s a lot of stores in town that can sell things that you may need.”

She advised incoming students to begin by packing essentials and buy additional things such as plastic storage containers after move-in day. This will lessen the amount of things students will have to pack.

After the organizational phase of moving into a residence hall, students will initiate phase two, which has everything to do with who they’ll live with.

“I ask all students to communicate with their roommates,” Huang said. “Most of them are going to have roommates — that’s the reality — and I think it’s really important to establish good communication because the space that you have is a shared space.”

Huang added that students should connect with their resident advisers, resident directors and hall mates.

“They could be your study buddies,” Huang said. “They could have the same class as you, so get connected early and don’t wait because once people have established their community, they kind

FAITH ALLENDORF THE DAILY ILLINI Wall hangings and lights decorate a student room in Scott Hall, one of 10 residence halls located in the Ikenberry Commons. Students should look at the University Housing website to better understand their room’s sizing.

of stick to that community.”

After students settle into their new academic and social lives at the University, another issue arises: homesickness.

It’s hard leaving home for somewhere so foreign and where personal life is intertwined into students’ academic life. It’ll be strange to wake up five minutes away from a class that starts in an hour and meet with friends afterward for study sessions and dinner. It might also be hard to be away from family, especially if it’s a student’s first time living alone.

“Before you come, definitely bring something from home that reminds you of home,” Huang said. “Call your parents and your family members. I know college can get busy, and sometimes we’re having too much fun so you forget to check in on your family.”

Along with keeping in touch with family and friends, Huang said visiting home and eating food you’re familiar with in the dining halls is another way to help mitigate homesickness.

“The experience you put into college and your first year is what you make of it,” Huang said. “The other important thing is don’t compare your experience to your peers. I think everyone has different personalities and different things that they like, and it’s okay if there are things you don’t like to do.”