The initial adjustment to college life takes some getting used to -- I'm really glad that my floormates and I had a chance to go through that process together. Residence life as a first-year student can be tricky because you're trying to find a way to balance a new roommate with new classes, new friends, and an entirely new place. It's an exciting and exhausting few weeks of your first semester.
At Grinnell, I think the best part of those few weeks was getting to know the people on my floor. The residence life program here really stresses the importance of building a community within a dorm and especially the idea of a floor community. There's always a student advisor on the floor, a person you can talk to about whatever, whenever. This is a really nice connection to have, especially during first semester. The four other first-years on my floor and I went to meals together, studied together, we were inseparable. Those were all awesome relationships and the adjustment to college was much easier because of our dorm life.
As you edge into second semester, or even second year, you might find yourself calling your room "home" rather than just "dorm room." At the end of your first year you can pick a roommate to live with in a double, or you might even get a group together and go out for a triple. A great thing about Grinnell—you never have to live in the same place twice if you don't want to. This gives each student a chance to try out different parts of campus. Residence life is one of the largest networks of supportive relationships that students have on campus and allows for numerous learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
