Living With Seven Other Guys

This, as you may have figured out, is not a movie, video game, restaurant, play, musical, or anything of that ilk. It is simply a situation in which you should never find yourself. Avoid it at all costs.

My experience with housing at the university I currently attend has not been a very good one-- though I like the school itself well enough. Due to, admittedly, a late request for an apartment-style dorm on my part, I have been living in Kappa Hall with six suite-mates and one roommate since something like August or September of last year. I (obviously) share a room with my roommate, a common room with two of my suite-mates, and a bathroom (one shower, two stalls and two sinks) with everyone else.

None of these situations are particularly ideal. While I was fortunately assigned to a generally-bearable roommate, I still essentially have no privacy no matter where I go. My roommate, who shall remain nameless, is generally in the room whenever I am, surfing the 'net, talking (on the phone) to his girlfriend, watching TV, or studying-- sometimes a combination of all four; TV is usually in the mix somehow. What with eight people sharing a bathroom, there's bound to be someone in there at the same time as you, whether they're taking a shower, shaving, or in the other stall.

The walls are, somehow, either incredibly thin or porous: sound waves seem to ignore them entirely. One of my suite-mates likes gospel music, and another likes rap; they both live on either side of me, so I often get a kind of fusion of the two in my own room. I've taken to blasting heavy metal and techno on my headphones just to block out the constant mish-mash.

I find myself frequenting the dining halls, the library, the study hall-- anywhere I can go to get some alone time. Isn't it kind of strange that my idea of 'alone time' has become sitting by myself in an area with tons of other people in it? It's almost a perversion of the idea of privacy: I flee my home, instead of returning to it, in search of solitude.

Don't get me wrong-- I'm not knocking the idea of living on-campus entirely. Just try and get a room to yourself. It'll be so worth it.

The Rundown
Privacy: 1/10. Sometimes, my roomate isn't here. Most of the time, though, I have no time to myself.
Fun: 5/10. Sometimes, I'm in the mood to play Halo, shoot hoops, pull pranks, and other things that accompany stuffing a lot of guys into one suite. Most of the time, however, I am not in the mood.
Convenience: 1/10. One shower? Oh, come on.
Overall: 2.5/10. Rent an apartment if you have to. Don't wind up in my situation.