Dorm Essentials & Tips

Happy July everyone! I’m currently blogging from Fairbanks, Alaska where August and the Fall 2021 semester are both right around the corner! Since Orientation, move in, and classes are going to be beginning in less than a month I want to share my favorite Dorm Essentials & Tips for those living on campus. 

Starting this fall, I will have had experience living in a total of three different Residence Halls over a period of my (soon to be) five years at ERAU. I’ve lived on campus my entire college experience and I’m here to share my top tips to make your living space feel like home.

My current home away from home includes lots of weekend hikes, here’s my latest adventure!

Since your dorm room will be where you spend a lot of your time, making sure that is a comfortable space where you can do homework, study, and relax at the end of the day is extremely important. Since this list is general, most residence halls allow all of these items, but double check with your housing contract for items more specific to your specific living community. For reference, you may check out ERAU’s Housing and Residence life Community Standards, linked here, where also featured is a FAQ page, a Residence Hall option guide, a Move-In guide, as well as my personal favorites (guides I reference the most) the Approved Cooking Appliances in the Residence Halls list, and ERAU’s streaming service website for television shows and movies available for free here to all on-campus students. 

My dorm essential list includes, first and foremost, stocking up on snacks! Secondly, my favorite part about coming back to my room at the end of a long day is taking a hot shower and setting up my essential oil diffuser! I also love having plants in my room. All rooms have windows that receive some amount of natural light during the day, so I suggest low maintenance plants like succulents or cacti. Another great option is planting a few wildflower seeds in a small pot to brighten your room, or trying some easy to grow herbs such as basil, mint, or chives!

Nonperishable snacks like granola bars, nuts, and apple sauce are great to have on hand during the school year, but right now I am grateful to be able to pick fresh berries to snack on in between my online summer classes!

Another one of my favorite room essentials is a natural light simulating alarm clock. Since I’m in ROTC (or if you have any early morning or late-night flights if you’re studying Aeronautical Science), I highly recommend getting an alarm clock that can sync with your phone, your Alexa Amazon Echo, and simulates sunrise/sunset to help you regulate your sleep schedule. Before PT in the mornings, I am always listening to music on Spotify while I get ready in my room, so being able to auto-play music directly after my alarm goes off makes my morning routine that much simpler.

I also suggest investing in a good pair of headphones! Despite nighttime quiet hours, and quiet hours during finals, living in the Residence Halls can be loud at times and there are definitely moments when I like peace and quiet. The perfect solution I’ve found to this, other than heading to the Quiet Rooms on the second floor of the library to study, are noise canceling headphones! Since music plays such an important role in helping me relax while taking breaks from studying, I use headphones for peace and quiet while I do homework, as well as for high quality music when I’m working out or relaxing.

Keep on keeping on folks, will report back soon!

New Residence Hall

I mentioned in one of my last posts that I had the opportunity to move into the New Residence Hall in January. I was an RA (Resident Assistant) in McKay Hall, which has now been replaced by the New Hall (it doesn’t have a name yet). Because of my RA position, I was automatically moved into the New Hall for the spring semester!

I know everyone is excited to see what it’s like inside! I’ll start by going through some features:

  • Two laundry rooms on every floor
  • Two lounges with TVs on every floor
  • Multiple study rooms on each floor
  • Large 1st floor lounge with pool tables and multiple tvs
  • Large 1st floor study area
  • Vending machines

Next, the most important part, what are the rooms like?

  • Four residents per suite, two residents per bedroom
  • One toilet, one shower, double vanity (all in separate rooms)
  • Closet for each resident
  • Microwave
  • Mini fridge
  • Kitchen storage cabinets
  • Ceiling fans
  • Carpet flooring

This hall was definitely designed with students in mind. There are so many places to study, socialize, and even do laundry! Residents have been enjoying this hall for about a month now, and are loving their new home.

As of right now, there aren’t any specifications on the ERAU website, so I took a few pictures to showcase the New Hall.

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Hallway inside the New Hall

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Laundry room on every floor

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Lounge space on the first floor

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Study area

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Hospitality area on the first floor

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More lounge space

I hope these pictures gave you a better idea of what the New Hall is like! If you want to see it for yourself, come visit us on campus! Take a tour or come for Preview Day, and we’d love to show you around.

Until next time,

Lindsey