We’ve reached the half-way mark for the semester, and I have to say that as a senior, it feels good to not have to participate in some of the more stressful things coming up for students. For those of us in the same boat, it’s time to relax instead of needing to worry about registering for classes and the big stress causer: room selection. It’s already a big topic on everyone’s mind, especially since room selection numbers have just come out. Good luck to all of you during this process. I’ve been through it three times, with each time more stressful than the one before, especially when that whole “housing is not guaranteed” debacle happened. Try not to let it stress you out too much.

That being said, I am extremely lucky to have been able to live on campus every year at this university. Most of it was due to sheer dumb luck, but hey it’s all about the luck of the draw. So therefore, because I have been able to live on campus all of these years, I really appreciate it here. The convenience of not having to find parking on a daily basis is a great thing, and not having to plan to come to campus 30 minutes to an hour before class is an added bonus. I’m not saying that I couldn’t do it, because I know a lot of people manage to do that every day. I’m just appreciative of being able to not have to. So in response to that, I wish more people were appreciative about life on campus and its convenience. Many people are not appreciative, and only learn to appreciate things once they are off campus.

For instance, I’m a firm believer that your on-campus housing and dining experience is your home away from home. Therefore, there is no reason that you should not act the same way here as you would at home. However, I am not referring to what you might think. I am talking about how you treat your room, building, and how you live in general. Compare your life here and your living conditions to your home life. Are they similar? For instance, big breaks such as spring break or Thanksgiving break often bring about a cleaning spree that takes hours because dorm rooms often range from moderately livable to a teenage wasteland. It’s pretty disgusting. You probably do not live in a landfill at home, so don’t live in one here. Throw out your trash regularly and do the dishes more often than just when the sink overflows or you run out of clean ones. Maintenance shouldn’t consider burning your room down once you move out for the summer.

I also advocate keeping the entire building clean. No one wants to see trash on the floor in the hallways, in the elevators, or outside the entrance. The world is not your own personal trash can, so quit acting like it is. I’d like to live on a clean, trash-free campus, so keep it that way, because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. You wouldn’t throw your trash anywhere you wanted to at home, because your mother would probably smack you; so don’t do it here. It’s aggravating to see people drop things, look at them, and then continue walking; pick it up for crying out loud! Then there are those people who spill things and do not bother to clean it up, especially when it’s all over a table in Bartels (which is probably already full and that just happens to be the ONLY open table available). Yes, this week, people seem to frustrate me more than usual.

Lastly, I would like to address something I saw in the Bartels dining hall last week that really disgusted me. I watched a student actually throw out their food, along with the plate and utensils instead of walking them to the dish drop off. The sheer laziness is revolting. Would you throw out your mother’s dishes and utensils? Again, she’d probably smack you for being so dumb. Don’t do it here. People complain about rising costs at the university; well yeah, when you have people throwing out dishes that need to be replaced time and time again because there are not enough by the end of the semester. Go back to your own room and throw out the dishes that actually belong to you. See if you like it. Either we have to remove the side trash cans because they promote laziness, or we just need to start letting in smarter people.

Good luck to the rest of you who are participating in room selection as you continue throughout the process. I hope everyone who wants to live on campus is able to. However, if it’s looking like that it is not going to happen, keep your head up and plan early. Try for off campus housing too. It might take a little time to get used to taking the shuttle, but if it’s an option, consider it. If all of that fails, looking for an apartment is your next step. Good luck in your searches. Don’t worry too much though; spring break is right around the corner. Hopefully, by that time you aren’t completely worn out from people on campus whose judgment lacks substantiality.