Living in a single room at Jones Residential College sounded exciting on the Web site last year, but upon arriving at the actual dorm I soon realized that those joyful stories were completely fabricated.  I had heard from various people on the Facebook group that they had emailed Roger Boye to find out who their prospective roommate was.  I thought I might as well make some sort of connection and emailed him also.  However, all I received in the reply was the sentence “by the luck of the draw, you are one of the 12 others living in a single.”  My stomach sank, and I knew that there was nothing lucky about living by myself for five weeks at summer camp.

These are the five things I hated about living in a single for five weeks. 

Number one, you do not get that first connection that you usually have with a roommate.  I had to keep my door wide open the whole first week and force myself upon neighbors in a sad attempt to make friends.  After the first week though, it got easier, and I could shut my door to escape to my solitude.

Number two, the room is literally the size of a prison cell.  I walked in the door carrying my two humongous suitcases wondering where on earth all my stuff was going to go.  The only light came from a single lamp and the sunlight through my tiny window.  I soon found out that half of my electrical outlets and my light switch did not work.  It was a rude awakening for what college life held for me.  But after entering my friend’s double on the first floor and realizing it was five times the size of my room, I knew there was some hope.

Number three, the room doesn’t understand how to function on a comfortable temperature.  Before realizing how to turn on the air conditioner, I sat in musky heat for the first week.  I got used to it and began to know well the feeling of suffocating hot air rushing me as I stepped out of the cool hallway into my dungeon.  But eventually a friend was kind enough to tell me how to turn on my cool air.  Since then, I’ve been living like an Eskimo in socks, sweats, and many layers of clothing at night.

Number four, there is literally no room for socializing.  I once had three other people in my room at once and three of us had to sit on my bed while the other one sat on the hard wooden chair.  It was decided afterwards that there was definitely a maximum occupation of 4 for my room at all times.

And lastly number five, there is nothing to do late at night.  You can watch movies or work on your stories, but come floor hours no one wants to watch their friends head off for girl talk with their roomies.  I head back to my fortress of solitude to sit and listen to music for an hour before deciding to try and break my latest brick breaker highest score on my phone.  I simply tell myself, this is the life.

Don’t get me wrong, having a single hasn’t been all that bad.  I actually retreat to my fortress when I need some down time or really need to focus on an assignment.  And everyone needs to be alone at some point.  I would never wish it upon any of my friends here to have to be with me 24/7 for five weeks.  That’s just plain mean.  But despite the downsides of having the single, I will miss my five by 10 foot cell.  I might complain all I want about the cons of living alone. But in the end, it wasn’t about where I slept at night. It was what memories I made throughout the day.