Residential Life

Chapter 5: Residential LifeSena Adjei

This chapter talks about the proper ways to conduct oneself within the dorms of any given university. It explores the ideas of relationships between roommates, how to create a certain atmosphere in ones dorm room, and the possible dangers of dormitory life. The three main points of the chapter I was assigned was to expand upon the idea of civil and ethical behavior with those you’re living with. The most important concepts are as follows: For any healthy interpersonal relationship to form the individuals must have a profound and sincere respect for one another whether their behavior be civil or strained. Secondly, when a disagreement does propagate staying silent does nothing to remedy the situation, and dancing around the topic at hand in the hopes that the person you’re sharing your space with gets the idea doesn’t accomplish anything either. To effectively eliminate a hostile environment one must be clear, concise and understanding. Finally, a hostile environment whether it be in the realm of illegal substances, offensive dorm posters or illegal download activity within the dorm room these things are all potentially dangerous aspects of dorm life and boundaries must be clearly set in order for them to be avoided.

In my opinion, within the context of Hampton University many of these basic principles of proper dorm conduct are either ignored or outright rejected. Ties between my roommate and I are even strained occasionally because of our lack of respect for one another and the space of the other, and the other week, a girl was even caught attempting to sneak out of the window of her dorm and jeopardized the college experience of not only everyone in her dorm, but everyone in any dorm on campus. To deal with these issues, there must be open communication channels between roommates and the administration to the tenants beyond the ground rules being stated and reiterated with no attempts to sincerely connect the importance of following them with the individuals that reside within the dormitories, there can be no genuine growth. Through peer to peer communication, or any intimate personal communication there can be real and relevant bonds made between the individuals within the dorms, the rules of the dorms, and the administrators enforcing them.