On the day I moved in at Southern Illinois University, I was given keys to a sauna. 

Well, at least it felt like one. It was August and blazing outside, and the windows of my dorm room were closed and the AC would only blast hot air. Our one choice was to leave the door open and hope the hallway would provide some circulation, but by the time the task was finished, my family and I were drenched in sweat. 

I moved into my dorm one week before school started. After decorating it with fake lavender flowers to match my bedspread and photo collages of my friends from home, I wasn’t able to sleep there for another three nights. I moved in early so I could attend Dawg Days, SIU’s New Student Retreat. 

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Okay, but when will I move in?

New students have two options of when to move in: they can come on the “official” move-in day (the Wednesday before classes start), or they can attend early move-in. Early move-in is reserved for members of SIU Athletics and Marching Salukis, as well as those attending Dawg Days. 

Dawg Days, as I mentioned previously, is a retreat for freshman and transfer students. You move into your dorm on Sunday, take a bus to Touch of Nature’s Outdoor Education Center and spend four days participating in team-building and camp-related activities. 

If this applies to you, I highly recommend going to the retreat. I am not a huge fan of camping, but it’s a great way to meet friends before school starts, or at least get practice with making new ones. 

You may not meet “your people,” but you’re guaranteed to meet someone new. Between small groups and cabinmates, you can expect to walk out knowing at least a few familiar faces on campus. As far as I know, nobody in my cabin knew each other before that Sunday. Come Tuesday night, we had all dragged our mattresses to the floor for a mini sleepover. (Shoutout to Cabin 14 – hope you guys are doing well). 

While I was spending my nights in an air-conditioned cabin, my roommate moved in and had maintenance replace our AC. Although we still had to blast fans and leave the windows open at all times, we were finally able to breathe, and enjoy our start to the school year. 

So are the dorms nice? Where should I live? 

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I’ve heard countless complaints about dorm rooms, and admittedly, I’ve taken part in them. “East Campus is too loud and too far away.” “West Campus isn’t close enough to the REC.” “Trueblood’s food is awful.” “Lentz’s food is awful.” You get the gist of it. 

However, even while sitting in dorms older than your parents, it’s important to recognize how lucky we truly are here. The rooms are a decent size. I have friends at other universities living in rooms the size of closets. And I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t survive a full year in communal bathrooms. 

East Campus and West Campus are the two residence hall areas. East Campus is composed of three 17-story high towers: Mae Smith, Neely and Schneider, and is located across from the Student Recreation Center. West Campus is located near Campus Lake and has 11 three-story buildings: Abbott, Bailey, Baldwin, Bowyer, Brown, Felts, Kellogg, Pierce, Smith, Steagall and Warren. East Campus dorms tend to have more space, while West Campus dorms have more storage. Both dorms offer single and double suite-style rooms, so ultimately, it comes down to your personal preferences. 

Here’s some points to consider when choosing a side of campus: 

East Campus Dorms

• Close to the student recreation center, student health center and downtown Carbondale, but you have to cross the skybridge to get to classes
• Has laundry rooms on each floor
• Offers kitchenettes
• Close to Trueblood Dining Hall (bonus points for the Mongolian Grill) 
• Singles and doubles available 

West Campus Dorms

• Most classes are on this side of campus, but it’s further from the rec and health center
• Only one laundry room 
• Does not offer a kitchenette
• Close to Lentz Dining Hall (bonus points for their breakfast) 
• Singles, doubles, and super-singles (which are particularly large) available

I’ve picked my side of campus. Is there a specific dorm you recommend? 

At SIU, students have the opportunity to stay in a Living Learning Community. LLC’s are divided into different colleges, so you can room with people who are studying similar things. Of course, this is completely optional, but if you want to be surrounded by people with guaranteed shared interests, you should check out the list of LLC’s online. 

I have spent my first year in an LLC, but what’s unique about mine is that it is for the University Honors Program. Instead of being surrounded by students in arts and media, I live in a building full of people pursuing diverse areas of studies. My roommate is studying Japanese and International Trade. My suitemate is majoring in biology. I have friends in aviation, political science, physiology and so much more. 

Being in the LLC has also given me the opportunity to meet people from a variety of places and backgrounds. My hometown is only a couple hours away from campus, but I’m neighbors with people who come from as far as Colorado and South Dakota. 

How can I find a roommate? What if I want to live alone? 

From an outside perspective, the college dorm experience is scary and weird. We’re expected to move away from home, in with a stranger, and trust that we won’t get murdered or anything. 

My sister and I have always shared a room back home, so for a while I considered what it would be like to get a single. A room all to myself? Not having to share a sink or bathroom? Count me in. It sounded amazing in theory, but it also seemed very isolating. I wanted the full college experience, and I truly believe having a roommate is part of it. 

Like many others, I headed over to the SIU Class of 2027 Instagram page. I was terrified of having a random roommate, so I shared photos of myself and a short bio, hoping to find someone I would instantly click with. I met so many amazing people, ones who I still talk to today, but when the time came to choose a room, I ended up getting paired randomly with a girl named Ashlyn. We spent the summer messaging each other via Instagram DMs, coordinating a color scheme and picking decorations that, as you can tell from the photos, put the Property Brothers to shame. 

Ashlyn instantly became one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. We’ve traveled to five different states together in just the short time of knowing each other, and even now that we’re so busy with our classes, we still try to make time to grab breakfast and catch up every once in a while. We have also already signed up to be roommates again next year. 

If you think the roommate experience is for you, you can do what I did and join SIU’s class of 2028 Facebook and Instagram, but I would also recommend making a profile on the housing portal. You can fill out a form listing living preferences, such as if you want to stay in an LLC, what time you go to bed, what temperature you like in your room, whether or not you smoke, etc. You can also choose to have a randomized roommate, of course, and if you’re certain you want to live alone, that’s fine as well. 

I’ve filled out my housing contract and I’m ready to move in. Is there anything else I should know? 

My number one piece of advice I can give to incoming freshmen is go to everything. I was fortunate enough to find a group of friends at my dorm within the first month of college, but that probably wouldn’t have been possible to do without attending all of the dinners my Resident Assistant planned for us (shoutout to Skylar!). 

And now for a speed round: Go to the weeks of welcome events, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Branch out and meet someone new. Get involved but make time for yourself. Respect your roommate’s boundaries but make sure to set your own. Chances are you’ll only get this experience once, make the most of it.

One last thing: if you’re curious about what to bring to school, check out University Housing’s packing list. Yes, I agree that it’s better to be over prepared than under prepared, but I’ve learned from experience that your closet will not fit all of your clothes from home. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll just end up alternating between the same six crewnecks every week anyway. 

Staff Reporter Carly Gist can be reached at [email protected]

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