- Shallot Mohutege
Moving into a dorm room can be quite hectic. You’re far from home, you don’t have your mom and dad/ siblings there with you. You are literary all alone. You have to do your own laundry (hand wash even) you have to cook and feed yourself. You have to learn not only how to be independent but disciplined as well. Oh! And let’s not forget you have to learn money management because now you’re grown up, this is the final step before you are completely independent. Scary huh? The transition from being at home to living on your own can be terrifying.
But now that you have moved in and have finally settled down, why not make your dorm room feel a little like home? This is just so you can get rid of that home sick feeling you have been having. You can try a bunch of things, for example, you could look for a theme that reminds you of home, you can put up pictures of you and your siblings, friend or parents. You can buy the same bed sheets as the one you had at home. Put up wall art just to give it that personal feeling. All these seem like small things but trust a boarding student to tell you that all these things go a long way.
Aah! But isn’t it great though…?
You are finally living on your own, fresh out of high school. Barely been on your own before. You sleep whatever time you want and get up at anytime you feel like. You can sleep all morning on weekends. Most importantly (my favourite) you cook at anytime or not at all, I mean who cares? You live alone. You eat what you want, when you want to and oh! finally, you can go out with your friends and not have a curfew so when you come back from thriving at 4 A.M in the morning, you no longer have to worry about having to explain yourself to mom and dad.
But hey? Remember when I mumbled something about discipline? This is where it comes in. It’s great that you have all this freedom and have no one to answer to anymore but you are an adult now. Living in the hostel and as much as you want to party like a wild animal you have to remember why you are there in the first place. Don’t get lost in the night life and let yourself and your parents down. Discipline yourself. Yes, you can party but make sure the harder you party, the harder you work as well. Learn to balance the two.
For money management and time management the best way you can do this is to create a daily schedule/timetable. No, not the one for school but for all the other things you have to do after classes, this will help you manage your time properly and get things done on time.
We all have 24 hours in a day, how you use it is all up to you.
As for money management, try and draw up a list of all the things you need, a budget, and stick to it as well. There’s no point in drawing up a budget if you are not going to use it. Also, I advise you to keep all your receipts as well. You need to know what you are spending your money on every month and where you can improve.
I hope you have a wonderful time in the hostel. And one last thing, it’s important to make friends in the hostel. For fun cooking days, as well as studying nights and for all those lazy Sundays when you need to just get away from your four walls and have a good laugh with a friend. But hey, if you are a loner like me and enjoy your own company then it’s not necessary.
Till next time… <3
