Welcome to my Crib
I knew when I moved into this room that I only had 10 weeks here—but that doesn't stop me from feeling a bit sad about having to leave so soon!
It can be difficult to adjust to living in a shared space for the first time. Last year, I had a three-room double in French Hall, which meant my roommate and I had our bedroom to ourselves and shared a connecting room. But this summer, during my FIRE Dartmouth Italian study abroad program, I shared a single (albeit quite large!) room with my friend Jada.
![A photo of a bedroom wall, decorated with sticky notes, a map, and a cork board full of personal mementos. The edge of a desk is visible, with a water bottle, cup of pencils, and desk lamp on top of it.](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/unnamed_-_2024-10-30t190557.444.jpg?itok=7Ny_zA38)
My room this term is kind of like a combination of my two previous dorms—I live in a two-room double, which means my roommate and I each have our own connecting rooms and she has to walk through my bedroom to get to hers. I was worried this would make it difficult to make my space feel like my own, so I made sure to bring lots of decorations this year!
I figured that before I have to start packing, I could give you a bit of a tour.
Books
The first thing people usually notice about my room are my (non-required) books.I don't have much free time, and when I do, I don't often feel motivated to reach for a book. But when I do, I'm always grateful I brought a few from home.
![The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, Augustus, The Italian, and Memoirs of Hadrian lined up on my windowsill. There is a fake plant and some other small mementos surrounding the books.](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/unnamed_-_2024-10-30t190603.850.jpg?itok=7hjo7_kZ)
Wall Decoration
My favorite part of my room are my walls. I spend a couple of hours at the beginning of each term decorating with posters and photos, and I think the effort is always worth it. I love coming back to my room at the end of each day to a space that feels like a physical representation of my personality!
![A map of the United States with small red dots on different cities](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/unnamed_-_2024-10-30t190600.526.jpg?itok=YmZpPyBP)
![A map of Greece surrounded by postcards from Italy](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/unnamed_-_2024-10-30t190554.291.jpg?itok=sRRAy981)
Bed
The most important part of my room, obviously, is my bed. I knew that I wouldn't feel motivated to make my bed each morning if I had too many things on it, so I limited myself to the bare necessities of comfort.
I'm glad that this year, my bed is lofted a bit lower—I no longer need a stool to jump up onto it at the end of each day!
![A photo of my bed, with the same stuffed bear animal and bedding. There are maps, postcards, and posters decorating the two walls behind the bed.](https://admissions.dartmouth.edu/sites/admissions.prod/files/styles/wysiwyg_full_width/public/admissions/wysiwyg/unnamed_-_2024-10-30t190551.009.jpg?itok=vdu-AqCa)
That's about it for my dorm, but I hope you enjoyed the little tour!