Now that your university move is complete, you can focus on what is possibly the hardest part of transitioning to campus life: developing a sense of comfort away from home. The best thing you can do to create a comfort zone in your dorm room is take the necessary precautions to make yourself feel safe and assure that your belongs are secure.
Knowing who to trust
Make sure you can trust your roommate. First, it is essential that you build that trust with whomever you are sharing a room. Also, it is important that you are able to trust your roommate's friends. Perhaps this is an extension of trusting your roommate; you must trust him or her enough to be responsible for other people they allow into your dorm room.
If you cannot build this trust with your roommate, then you should talk to university housing services to find a new roommate. Of course, before taking any actions like this, you should try to talk things out with your roommate like adults.
Know the guest policy. After you move in, you and your roommate should check over the guest policy for your particular dorm building. This way, you will know how safe your belongings are while you're at class or out of the room. Also, you and your roommate will have an understanding of what to do when one of your friends stays overnight.
If you or your roommate see somebody you don't recognize in your dorm building and that person is unaccompanied by a resident of the building, alert your resident assistant (RA or CA) immediately.
Preventing theft
Always lock your door. This should go without saying, but even if you are just doing laundry or running out of the room for a few minutes -- lock your door. You never know who is in your building and may have access to your floor. So, to be safe, lock up whenever you and/or your roommate are not in the room.
Don't leave cash or expensive items lying around. You should never leave large sums of money out in the open anywhere, but this is especially true for university living. This is also important when it comes to expensive items such as your laptop or jewelry.
Purchase precautionary devices. Making note of all the aforementioned tips will establish a foundation of security for your dorm room, but you can also buy items such as a laptop lock to secure your computer or a dorm safe to keep important items unharmed. For example, whenever you leave the room, you can place any cash, jewelry and valuables in your safe to prevent theft.
Peace of mind
So, let's recap. You should find a roommate you can trust and establish boundaries with that person within the first few weeks at school. Then, learn the guest policy of your dorm building and be extremely cautious with your belongings, especially electronics and money. Taking these precautions after you've completed your move to university will contribute to a stress-free school year...
Well, there are still classes and exams, but that's another story. |