Many of the students attending Linfield live on campus and those who don’t have most likely lived on campus at some point during their college careers.

Living in the dorms is an interesting experience. A lot of the privacy and comforts of living at home are tossed out the window. While living in the dorms certainly has its fun times, there are other times when it would be nice if people would be a little more courteous to one another.

For example, it’s really hard to get to sleep when someone on another floor is playing a video game at an extremely high volume level. It seems doubtful that anyone would need to blast the volume that loud in order to play their game.

I think that there are some rules of etiquette that everyone should follow in order to coexist in such tight quarters. First, for those who enjoy playing video games or watching television at night, please be respectful of those who have an 8:15 a.m. class the next day. I understand that not everyone has to get up that early, but it’s not necessary to turn the volume up so high that people in the next hall can hear you. Be respectful of quiet hours and turn down the volume to a more reasonable level.

Another much needed guideline that everyone should follow is to clean up after yourself in the bathroom. No one wants to step into the shower and discover a massive wad of hair. Also, since we are now college students, please flush the toilets. It’s a pretty simple concept: push down the silver handle attached to the toilet. If everyone cleans up their own mess we can all have a more enjoyable bathroom experience. This rule should go for the kitchen as well. After using kitchen utensils, please clean them and put them away. The kitchen is for everyone living in the hall to use, not just for one’s personal use.

Sundays are a busy day in the laundry room. This means waiting for a washer or dryer to open up. Sometimes, people will take  another person’s clothes out of the washer or dryer and pile them on a table, sometimes causing separate piles to be mixed up. It’s understandable why people do this, as no one wants to wait all day for a washer or dryer to open up, but we need to be more respectful of others’ belongings. A better system is needed. Instead of piling clothes on a table, where piles can mix, we could have bins to set belongings in instead.

Living in the dorms is a unique, eye-opening experience. I believe that if everyone was a little more respectful to each other, it would make living with so many people a little easier.

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Meghan O’Rourke/Opinion editor
Meghan O’Rourke can be reached at [email protected].