By Yese Erazo-Tequianes ’27
Like a lot of the freshmen this year, I was thrilled about being assigned to the brand new 15 Beekman dorm building. From the flashy lobby to the brand-new dorm rooms, getting to move into this dorm building elevated my excitement about moving to college. What I didn’t expect, however, was to find out that I would be living in a 9-person suite, as opposed to the typical 2-person doubles my friends in other colleges would be living in. I was already anxious about moving in with my roommate, but that uneasiness heightened when I realized I would have to live with 7 suitemates as well. Over these past 2 months I would say I now have an adequate idea as to what the rest of this year will look like for me in my suite, including the ups and downs.
“It’s like having a 9-month long sleepover!” All summer long, my friends and I from back home talked about how excited we were to finally be leaving our small towns and starting what would become the rest of our lives. We talked about how we would decorate our dorms, who our roommates were, and what our schedules would look like. From sharing short stories to showing them their social medias, we felt as though we knew each other’s roommates as well as we knew our own. My friends all knew their roommates so well, yet I could not share that same certainty when it came to who I would be living with. 9 strangers who I would be sharing one space with for this entire school year is something that haunted my thoughts. What are they like? Will they like me? Will we get along? Do we share the same hobbies and interests? Do they have the same cleaning habits as me? All of these questions concerned me, and I became increasingly uneasy as August 30th, our move-in day, approached.
August 30th. Move-in Day. The day I had long awaited had finally come and my nerves were at their peak. On top of the stress of packing up my life into bags and moving from Pennsylvania to New York City, I was anxiously waiting to finally meet my suitemates for the first time. Walking past the crowded hallways and into my suite felt like an out of body experience. I was seconds away from meeting my suitemates and I could not have been more nervous. As my mom pushed open the door to help me move in, my hands tightened around the bags in my hands. “Hi! It’s so nice to meet you!” was the sentence that welcomed us as we walked into the suite. One of my suitemates’ parents had introduced themselves to me and my parents in a warm and welcoming way, and my nerves slowly began to diminish. As we pushed past the large move-in bins and into my room, I peeked into the other rooms and briefly introduced myself to some of my suitemates. I wasn’t expecting those initial awkward introductions to fade away within the first couple days.
After our parents helped us move in and left us to begin our college journeys on our own, we all found comfort in knowing that all of us were alone in this big city – but together. We all immediately clicked, and I remember feeling so lucky to have been put in a suite full of the kindest people. Since my room in the suite was the most spacious of the 4, we decided to have a movie night there. We all huddled around my suitemate’s laptop and watched an old movie together while eating popcorn out our $1 Target bowls. The feeling of being in a room full of sweet girls who are going through the same experiences that you are is one that is unmatched. That night was a memory that will linger in the back of my mind as one of the first nights where I felt at peace on my hectic college journey.
I quickly learned in the first couple weeks how different it was living in a suite with 8 other people. It was a completely new experience for all of us, but we all quickly adapted and embraced it. With living in a large suite, there is never a dull moment. There are friends constantly around you who are sharing the same positive experiences as you, as well as people who are experiencing the same struggles that you inevitably go through as a college student. Being in a large suite allows for numerous amounts of social interactions and, personally, helps me to feel less lonely in times when I feel so separated from my friends and family back home. The environment in such a large suite is constantly fueled by warm people and amusing times, which is not something that can always be said for living in a typical 2-person dorm room.
Although the people in my suite are some of the kindest and most electric people I have ever met, there are some conflicts that inevitably arise when 9 girls live together in one suite. What we have learned in the 2 months of being here is that communication is key. We all had to come to the realization that we were all raised differently and have different ways of doing things, so it is important to communicate these things with each other in order to live together harmoniously. While I know that some large suites have issues over noise levels or chore duties, other large suites have different issues like cleanliness and guest visits. There are a large range of issues that can arise, but the most important thing in the end is so communicate our issues and concerns with each other so we are all living comfortably together. For example, in my suite one of the issues we had was people not taking turns with taking out the trash. To solve this issue, we had a serene group meeting in which we discussed the problems we all had in the suite. In the end, we decided to invest in a chore chart wherein we all have assigned days to certain chores. It was reassuring to know that when we have problems, we can easily come to a peaceful talk with each other and come up with a plan to move forward.
Living in a suite of 9 girls was something I was angsty about, but looking back on these past 2 months, I would not change it for anything else. My experience of living with so many girls in one common area, while also being able to retreat to my quiet room if I would like some me time, is a perfect fit for me. Undoubtedly, every person is different, but I would highly recommend living in a suite for incoming freshman looking to branch out and step out of their comfort zone. In my suite, I have formed tight-knit relationships that are on a different level than those of my friends from classes. The past 2 months have been an exhilarating experience and I cannot wait for the rest of the year with my suitemates.