University Life Experience

September 7-8, 2022

I am in my second semester of University and so far day 2 has been a success. I have a dorm in our school's new building even though I am not a second or third-year student. It is nice that I was able to get into the dorm that I have now because some people are not always so lucky. I am grateful that I got in. I am also grateful that I roomed with one girl I get along with from last year. The status of our possible friendship is still unknown.

Last year was not a great year for me. I was in a townhouse with 7 other girls. When I came to school, I was all alone in the settling-in process aside from outside campus. I had support from my family and my previous relationship that I was in. I was not used to moving in with 7 strangers all at once....especially with 7 girls. I was also not used to taking care of myself for the most part. What I mean by this is that I was not used to cooking proper meals and living away from home. It was a big adjustment for me personally. I have always been a family-oriented person and I get homesick often. It did not help that I did not communicate well with the girls in my dorm either. I did not have the same interests or a lot in common with my dorm mates aside from the two girls out of the dorm. I currently live with the one girl I communicated with the most. At least I am not the only one that does not see eye to eye with certain dorm mates/roommates. It's more common than you think.

Another reason I had problems with adjusting was that my dorm mates did not guide me as much as I thought they would. I had to look for my classes without their help. Everyone was doing their own thing and I did not really expect them to babysit me. I just needed a little guidance. Last year was hard for me but this year will be better.

My roommate did not know she was going to get a roommate until 2 weeks or so before the reading break was over. I can't blame her if she was not happy about me staying with her. Life is that way sometimes. You have to deal with the cards that you are dealt with. My dorm was familiar with one another and then I became the black sheep add-on...or at least that was what it felt like in the beginning.

November 3, 2022

Living with other people that you do not know well can be hard. I had to move dorms this semester because it did not work out with the dorm that I was living in. I thought that it was going well and that it was going to be okay but in the end I was wrong. I am happy with the decision I made to move to a different dorm. Overall, I have lived with 14 other girls now. I have never lived with so many random girls in my entire life ahaha.

It is hard to live with other people because you have to live with their entire being. You have to live with their personalities and habits. There's actually a saying that says you should not live with your best friend. The reason for this is that when you live with someone you are constantly in their space and sometimes people cannot always live with that person because of how different they are and their habits. Many things can be put into consideration.

How to create a fair living situation:

1. Create a chore chart/plan

   • To help everyone contribute in the dorm, make sure you create a chore chart so that the dorm stays organized, clean, and mess-free. Dorm members have their own way of doing a chore but as long as you can agree on how the system works then it will allow for everyone in the dorm to contribute an equal amount of cleaning.

   • When you create the chart make sure to have a system in place for how the chores will be rotated. No one wants to do the same chore every day. Come up with a rotation system.

Example: Your dorm can decide to rotate chores daily, weekly, or biweekly. I have found that the weekly rotation is the most common rotation among dorms.

• Make sure that the chores are being completed per rotation before changing up the schedule. If members of the dorm are not completing their chores, then there may have to be further discussions on how to improve.

Example: The dorm could choose to start offering punishments/consequences to that person for not completing their tasks. An example would be that they have to do an extra chore or something like that. However, the consequences would be more applied when that person is consistent with not completing their chores.

2. Create a cooking schedule

• For each day of the week assign one person or a team of two people for that day of the week.

Example: Monday Stephanie cooks, Tuesday it is Martha, and so on...

A pair of two is a good consideration because one person can cook and then the second person will be responsible for cleaning up and washing the dishes. After their turn is done then you can switch the cooking and cleaning as a way of making turns.

• After you have established the cooking schedule then you can put into consideration who is shopping for groceries that day/week of cooking.

3. Create a budget

• A budget is a very important thing to do especially when you are living with other people. It is also important for people such as students to create a budget because....well we broke...to put it simply ahaha :D

These tips do not necessarily have to be for dorms in universities/colleges. These tips can be applied to other living situations as well. It is helpful to have some of these systems in place to prevent arguments about someone being unfair. This allows the whole dorm to contribute and to make turns with responsibilities regarding living with other people.

October 22, 2023

I have transferred to a different university this year for a few different reasons. My original plan was to take a year off in person school and attend online to save some money but the online schools did not have the courses I needed. I could not take both of my majors online for a full year. I could only take a certain amount of credits and then I would have to participate in person for 30 credits in Sudbury. The online school I wanted to attend is based in Sudbury but there was no way I was going all the way to Sudbury to complete my degree. I have a big problem with homesickness which means that I cannot stay away from home for too long otherwise I become physically and mentally sick. I am a family-oriented person so I need to be near my family to have a good and healthy mindset. Luckily I am not the only person who has struggled with homesickness.

A second reason I transferred to a different school was because I wanted to be closer to home. My current school is now an hour and a half away instead of 3 hours away from home. The time I have spent in Hamilton, Ontario was too far for me from home. I am much more fortunate to spend time at the current school I am attending. The university is not a Christian-based school like Redeemer is but there are Christian clubs and ministries that I can attend. I do still have a Christian foundation from a public school setting. I loved Redeemer but it was time for me to make a change and I wanted to have a fresh start. I wanted to live with fewer people and have my own space. At Redeemer, you do not have any privacy when you live on campus. I was constantly surrounded by people which is not a bad thing but I cannot handle interactions with other students on a 24/7 basis. I wanted to find a place where I could live away from campus and be involved at the same time. Hamilton was too expensive for me to stay anywhere and the drive was far for gas costs.

Let's be honest here, we are all broke university/college students with lifelong debts to pay later on. If you are fortunate enough to afford school then that is lucky for you but many people have a hard time keeping up with all the expenses. There are things that happen in your life that affect your ability to afford such kinds of expenses. The problem is that it is important to finish what you have started but you never know what will happen between those years you attend in school. Everything costs a price. Gas, rent, food, education, books, personal utilities, kitchen supplies, bathroom items, and etc. Hamilton was no longer in the cards for me personally.

I want to be clear by saying that Redeemer is a great school. I love the courses they offer and it is a beautiful campus. The library is amazing and peaceful to work in. Redeemer has a lot of perks and opportunities for personal growth. Redeemer the school itself is nice to attend. Some of the people I would say otherwise but that will always be the case no matter where you go. You will always find people that you dislike and people that are unkind to you. Overall, Redeemer is a fun school to be at because of the activities that occur. I love the dances and the spiritual retreats they offer. Just like any other university they also have different clubs for anyone to join. The big difference is that Redeemer offers education from a Christian foundation and that is the best part. It is especially good for people who have wanted to increase their faith in God and meet people who believe in God whereas they may not have those kinds of connections where they live.

Currently, I live with two wonderful girls in an apartment ten minutes away from my school. It turns out that both the girls I live with are Christians too. We have really fun talks and everyone does their own thing. Two of us go to university and the third girl works full-time from home. She does have an office too but she will work from home once in a while. I have my own room and private space which I am eternally grateful for. I have learned this year that I fully enjoy my own space and that I cannot share a room with anyone. There is nothing wrong with my roommates but I am someone that really needs her own space. I need a space for myself where I can do whatever I please and whenever I please to do so. I need my own space to wind down and take a break from human interaction. Do not get me wrong I would rather have human interaction than not at all. I do not enjoy texting or calling others very often if I can help it. I enjoy in-person communication a lot more than over the phone. What I am saying is that I cannot interact with someone in person every minute of every day. I get tired which is an introverted personality type of situation. I am both introverted and extroverted. I know how to have fun in a public setting but I can be the opposite too. It depends on my mood and how I am feeling at that specific moment. Comfort level is another big factor for me. If I am comfortable with you then I will go all out and be my insane wacky self. If I am not comfortable with you I will hold back.

I have a lot more motivation than I did at Redeemer and I am less depressed than I was. I have not been skipping classes like I did last year. This was due to depression issues. I could not get out of bed some days but that is a story for another time. At some point, I may make a post about my depression issues. It is a personal issue so I am not sure if I am willing to discuss it yet. If I do decide to discuss it then it will most likely be a detailed explanation from my past and current situation. It is something I will think about. I want to share it but do not at the same time. Okay, okay, I am getting off-topic now. Let's get back to the point.

Overall, the transition to a different school has been beneficial for me in multiple ways. I have met much nicer people too which is quite surprising. If you ever want to share your stories about the transitions you have experienced in college or university please feel free to send me a direct message through my blog or feel free to post your story in the forum/comment section! Thank you for reading and I hope to keep sharing my journey with you guys!

February 6, 2025

Update from this year. The year of 2024 was difficult again and so is this year. 2025. I failed a Psychology course in 2024. I also have been having a hard time increasing my grades. It seems as though I am unable to receive high grades. So much for trying to get more grants or scholarships. I failed a test this semester and it my first one this semester. I was and am disappointed in myself because it seems that I cannot achieve my goals no matter how hard I try. I have fallen into a depressive state and I have wanted to die on many days. I have no friends at school. My ex boyfriend cheated on me so now I am alone again. Back to square one. I really want to give up and just lay in bed everyday. However, if I do that my parents would never leave me alone hahah. When I am alone at night everything that I think about is 10 times worse than when I am with other people. My thoughts consume me and I want to give up. I think that I have to keep going but I have so much pressure and people expect so many things from me. It is exhausting that people around me expect me to be this "great" person and I am not. I am tired actually. I have so much pain, loneliness, and anxiety. I hope it will get better. I cannot wait for summer time to come.

The classes I am taking this year was/are Medieval Studies, German for beginners, Animal Psychology, Psychology of Sex, Science Fiction (English course), and an Oral Persuasion class which is focused on speaking publicly.

This year I am living with two roommates off campus in an apartment. I love the apartment and I love our living situation but I have had some conflicts with one of my roommates this year. She takes up the majority of the space we have in our apartment. Our apartment is small so it is important that we share and she has been gone for months now. While she is away, all of her belongings sit in the cupboards and take up space. She said she would move out in March but it has not happened. (This sentence was added in by myself on March 17). She has 4 cupboards full of belongings in the kitchen. Our new roommate barely has any room to place her things. I had to clear one of, my bottom shelves for her because the other roommate thinks she owns the place even though she is not in the apartment for months at a time. She also took over the entire cupboard in the bathroom with her several number of products. Luckily our new roommate was able to use the drawer spaces attached to the sink. She also lectures me on how to clean non-stop. I have told her not to do that because I am not a child and I know how to clean. One time she complained that I did not clean the bathroom mirror properly. I cleaned it for her a second time and she STILL complained that it was not clean enough. If she is sooo unhappy about it then she can clean it herself. She needs to go get her eyes checked because the mirror was spotless. Currently, we are not in a good place understandably. I was able to have my room so I am very grateful for the opportunity to have my own room. I have been living in the same apartment for over 2 years now. I want to find an apartment closer to school so that I do not have to drive to school every day. Both of my roommates are older than me and they both have proper jobs.

Lastly, I am not strong with God anymore. Right now everything is broken. I am lost and I find it hard to care about daily things. I do not find joy in life anymore. I am tired of being in it.