Dorm Life at The University of Arizona

Hi, my name is Rachel John and I am currently a freshman at the University of Arizona. I am living on campus in a dorm with two other girls. I didn’t know either of them when I first came to Tucson in August. Living in the dorms was a major adjustment for me. Back at home, in Danville, California, I had my own room, which is about the same size as my dorm now and my own bathroom. The bathrooms in my dorm are community bathrooms, which means that our bathrooms are at the end of our hallway, and approximately 40 girls share them. This is sometimes a major inconvenience. If you ever want to wash your hands, brush your teeth or even take a shower you end up having to go down the hall in order to use the bathroom. Taking a shower in a community bathroom takes a lot of getting used to. We use shower caddies in order to carry all of our bathroom necessities such as shampoo and conditioner to the bathroom every time we want to take a shower. We also wear shower shoes most of the time because showering in a public shower can sometimes be disgusting.
My dorm room is basically a box. There are three twin-sized beds in my room along with 3 desks. There are also three closets, which have a decent amount of space, which is nice. Our beds are raised very high off the ground in order to give us more space to store things. We each have a dresser, which is also under our beds. We have a refrigerator and microwave in our room, which definitely comes in handy. Most of the time we only keep only snacks in our room, because there are many restaurants on campus where we can eat meals. The restaurants on campus are pretty good, but we get tired of them very quickly. Most of the time we either eat sandwiches, pasta, or salads. My dorm is also located very close to University Street, which has many restaurants and shops. Typically we eat on University about 2 times a week when we don’t feel like walking to get food on campus.
Most of the time I do my homework sitting on my bed or at my desk. I have a laptop computer, which is a major life savor. Without my own laptop I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I do majority of my homework on my laptop such as writing essays or typing up assignments. A lot of my homework is actually turned in online, so I end up not having to use my printer as much. I am currently taking an online class, where I do all of my assignments and quizzes online. It is a fun class because I can do my work whenever it is convenient as long as I turn it in by the assigned due date.
My classes at the University of Arizona are not as difficult as I was expecting. I have a very good schedule. My earliest class is at 10 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. I have math four days a week from 1- 1:50. I also have a general education class from 12- 12:50 on Monday and Wednesday and 11- 11:50 on Fridays. My day ends by 2 on most days of the week, which allows me to have plenty of time to do homework.
I hope this helps you to better understand what college life is like in America. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Hope to hear from you soon!