Making Our Dorm Your New Home

By RIMA AL JAREH

Know that feeling of excitement you get from the idea of living alone?

That feeling might not be as exciting has you hoped it would be.

Living in dorms may not be as easy as it may seem. We might end up with a roommate you cannot get along with or we might not get used to the dorm life itself. One of the biggest drawbacks of living in the dorms is missing our families. Living at home means to have food made and served to us and to be pampered by our parents – things we might take for granted when we have them but miss when we are away. But dorm living in the end is best.

Staying in dorms forces students to become more independent. They have to rely on themselves in every aspect of their life, from cooking to doing the laundry to even grocery shopping, which provides lifelong practical skills.

One of the students residing in dorms, Sarah Hisham, says, “When I first came to dorms, I was scared because it was my first time in Dubai and I knew no one in the country. I was all alone. I used to call my mom and cry and tell her that I am homesick.”  However, that feeling for Hisham did not last long, she got used to the dorm life after a while as it became more enjoyable for her over the weeks.

I do believe that living in dorms can make students learn a lot about themselves and about the environment around them. It is a great way to prepare ourselves to explore the next step in our lives. Thus, it is important for us to learn how we can be independent because it will make our life in general much easier. That is why, I believe, we need to learn how to embrace from every individual experience that occurs around us.

Omnia Fahim, a junior student, was also lost and scared in the beginning. Her family lives in Abu Dhabi and though she was familiar with Dubai, the university was a new beginning for her in many aspects. She used to wait for the weekdays to pass to go back home to spend time with her family. However, later on she started to get more comfortable in dorms, she felt freer. Thus, freedom is one of the major reasons why many students like dorms.

“There is no one to tell you when to sleep,” says Fahim, “when to wake up, when to eat, or when you should come back home.”