Growing up in a middle-class suburban home I led an average, boring lifestyle. I often considered other lifestyles and how some of them seemed odd. For example the Amish; they life in their own little communities, they don't use cars, wear store bought clothing, or have electricity. They have wierd rules about marriage and beard growing. I never thought that I would ever myself partake in living conditions that would rival an Amish community for its oddness. That was until of course, I moved away to college and lived in a dorm room. Dorm life is unlike that of any other. There are things that go on in a dorm that you just wouldn't experience anywhere else. Particularly, there are three things that make a dorm life unlike any other; RA's, roommates, and the bathrooms. .
Resident assistance are students who get paid to assist residents and provide help. The RA can be considered as the "enforcer" of the floor that you live on in the dorm. I guess for any social institution to function there have to be rules and a dorm is no exception. Some RA's are relaxed and let you do what you want but others are a pain and strictly abide by all the rules such as keeping your music turned down, getting girls out of your room by midnight, and of course no alcohol. The breaking of these rules can lead to several disciplinary actions, some so severe that you can actually get removed from the University. So, with like many things, you must maintain a constant balancing act of doing the right thing all the time and getting away with a few not so righ things.
Another aspect of dorm life is living with a roommate. Roommates can be a big deciding factor of whether or not you enjoy dorm life. If you get a roommate who always has friends over, coming in at the late hours of the night, smoking, and listening to loud music it can be impossible to get any homework done in you"re room. You can at times find yourself living in the library just so you don't flunk out.
