{"id":11710,"date":"2021-03-24T10:13:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T15:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/?p=11710"},"modified":"2021-03-24T10:13:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T15:13:46","slug":"advice-for-rising-juniors-invest-in-your-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/2021\/03\/24\/advice-for-rising-juniors-invest-in-your-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Advice for Rising Juniors: Invest in Your Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It has been a ridiculously long time since I came on this blog to have a genuine conversation with you–you being, well, anybody. I’m not sure who exactly I imagine reading my blogs, but I hope at least some of you out there are future students of MSA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even now, I can recall the joy that overtook my face when I discovered the literary blog. Seeing my senior’s work made my heart soar, and I found myself checking back frequently to read their posts. Callie Matthews wrote several advice blogs for rising juniors, and they always made me feel so comforted and reassured, so I decided that I would make a series of those as well! I’ll touch on some general points in these posts, but if you have any questions please, reach out to a student! We would be more than happy to talk to you about life on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Invest in Your<\/b> Space<\/b><\/p>\n

About a month ago, I moved into my own dorm, and I took this as an opportunity to turn a room into a home. I think one of the biggest challenges of living at a boarding school is feeling comfortable in a unfamiliar environment. It’s a difficult transition for everybody, but one thing that can definitely help is decorating your space in a way that brings you joy. I bought a tapestry, a diffuser, string lights, and fake vines to embellish the dorm, but it’s also filled with small things I’ve collected over the years and photos of my friends from back home. Class of ’23, it is highly unlikely that you’ll be sent home for extended periods of time due to COVID-related things, so consider taking the things from home that make you happy in your dorm. You don’t have to spend big to make your space feel more cozy; DIY projects are a wonderful way to bring life to a dorm without breaking the bank, and small, inexpensive decorative items can go a long way. <\/span>Also, <\/b>if you do plan on buying new items from your dorm, check over the list of allowed items before you make any purchases! Here are a few pictures of my dorm, if you need an idea of what you\u2019ll be working with. Keep in mind that the majority of you will have a roommate next year<\/strong>, so be mindful of that shared space when you\u2019re picking out things.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Personally, the desk chair was a good investment for me, it\u2019s especially nice if you work primarily at the \u2018big desk\u2019 like I do. Each desk has a comfortable chair provided with it, so it\u2019s all down to preference at the end of the day. I have throw blankets over mine just for the sake of adding more color to the room; I bought a cushion for the chair beside my bed, so I only have the blanket hanging over the backside of that one.<\/p>\n

Before you move in, you and your roommate will have to make a decision about who\u2019s sleeping where; the typical agreement is that the person who takes the bottom \u00a0bunk will have the two small desks and whoever takes the top will have the big desk under it, but it varies from situation to situation. Chose wisely; get a cute twin xl <\/strong>bed set, mattress topper, and mattress cover;\u00a0invest in comfortable pillows; and you\u2019re all set. Sleeping on the top bunk isn\u2019t as terrible as some people think; I slept there before I moved rooms, and I never came close to rolling off during my sleep. I promise, your body knows where you need to be to stay safe, even when it\u2019s asleep. If you do end up with the top bunk and you\u2019re still feeling anxious, consider buying a bed rail. I\u2019ve only ever seen these made for children\u2019s beds, but still, they are a decent enough length to keep you from falling.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t see them in the pictures above, but on the east\u2014or west, depending on which side of the suite you get\u2014wall, you have three large sets of dressers, closets, and vanities. You\u2019ll have enough space to store whatever clothes, shoes, and accessories you need. Another thing: consider bringing your own mini-fridge. If your roommate has one, and they\u2019re willing to share, that\u2019s great, but you might appreciate having your own space for food and drinks. If you bring your own dishes,\u00a0please\u00a0<\/em>bring dish wash and a sponge to clean them. You do not want to be struck trying to wipe down your cups and bowls with wet paper towels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s talk about the bathroom. You and your roommate will be connected to another pair of roommates by a bathroom. It\u2019s a pretty large space, and you\u2019ll have the necessities of a two sinks, a mirror, a shower, and a toilet.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"I only share a bathroom with one person; again, this probably will not be the case for you. Each side has a four-unit storage shelf with three small drawers under those and two towel racks: one of the door, the other beside the shelves. I keep a chair on my side just so I don\u2019t have to stand while I\u2019m doing my dental and skincare routines and my makeup. My suite-mate has some of their artwork up to make the place feel more welcoming, and I really appreciate that aspect of our shared space.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good idea to connect with your suite-mates (which is a term that includes everyone you share a bathroom with) about what you want to get for the bathroom. Your must-haves are a shower curtain, a trash can, paper towels, hand soap, toilet paper, a plunger, and cleaning supplies for every part of the bathroom, including the mirror and toilet. You might be interested in buying a tiered shower caddy that can hang on the shower head, so you don\u2019t have to make due with limited room for your products or take them in and out each time you take a shower. Bathmats and toothbrush holders are worthy considerations as well.<\/p>\n

Before you move in, I would pick a day and make note of everything you use over the course of 24-hours; naturally, things will operate a bit differently in your dorm than they do in your bedroom back home, but it\u2019ll help you get a sense of what you actually need to bring and what will be sitting untouched in the top shelf of your closet for the next school year.<\/p>\n

…and that’s about it.\u00a0 Thanks for spending some time with me, and I hope you find this helpful. Until next time!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a ridiculously long time since I came on this blog to have a genuine conversation with you–you being, well, anybody. I’m not sure who exactly I imagine reading my blogs, but I hope at least some of you out there are future students of MSA. Even now, I can recall the joy … Continue reading “Advice for Rising Juniors: Invest in Your Space”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11710"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11797,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710\/revisions\/11797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.msabrookhaven.org\/literary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}