COLUMN: Love TMI? Then you’ll love the dorms

When she asked me to clean her spinal piercing, I knew I was in for an interesting year.
There is a plethora of fun details about my freshman roommate, but I think that one will suffice. In my first year at USD I was introduced to whole host of new ideas, people and vermin. However, much of this was not in the classroom. 

I found out that campus cats and squirrels are not particularly friendly. You will get sick in the dorms approximately twice every month. And, you have a 1-in-2 chance of being driven insane by your roommate. If you don’t go insane, then you’re probably the bad roommate. Last but not least, the more you learn, the dumber you will feel — that one might hurt the most. 

To be honest, the only way to get through this is to accept your fate on the bottom rung. The sooner you stop bragging about being pre-med, the sooner you’ll probably make friends. The sooner you accept that no one cares what you did in high school, the better.

Don’t mistake this as an impediment, think of it as incentive to prove yourself all over again. Professors, upperclassmen and your parents will all probably tell you the same thing about going to college: get involved.

However, upon arrival you may realize the real reason people get involved: having a reason to avoid your “interesting” roommate.

The more you get out into Verm and get involved on the USD campus, the less likely you’ll be driven insane by dorm life. It’s science.

In the meantime, I envy you because you’re just about to start discovering the glory that is Vermillion, or rather, Vermtown, Vermhole or Vermington. These are names given in love, and I’ve also come to have a weird, unexpected appreciation for this town.

There is life beyond the USD campus, and aside from maybe “Lower Verm,” I suggest you check it out. On the off chance you do find yourself in “Lower Verm,” make sure you have an updated tetanus shot, a cell phone and your windows are rolled up.  

With that, I wish you luck and hope you remember there are plenty of distractions in Vermillion so you can maintain your sanity after your roommate enters her “I like to draw flowers that look like human genitalia” phase.

Too much information? Then you’re going to love the dorms.

Reach columnist HeatherFluit at Heather.Fluit@usd.edu.
 

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