Dorms are dorms. Let’s get that established right off the bat. There is no such thing as a “nice” dorm unless you want to pay three times the money for such a luxury. Everyone says that living in the dorms are an experience. Let me be the first to say that, yes, they are quite the experience. As an only child, I didn’t view myself as sheltered, but rather unaware of what it was like to live with other people. I didn’t know the feeling of sharing a bathroom let alone a room. And boy did I not understand the feeling of living on a co-ed hall with boys (not men). Walking into my room on move in day, I never would’ve imagined I could live here for an entire school year. I mean after all, my room doesn’t even have a window! In my opinion, it resembles a jail cell. However, after I got my decorations set in place, I started to understand how it could be considered cozy. The dorms and I have always had our ups and downs. Do I believe that every sickness I contracted this year was from the dorms? Yes. Could I live in them for a whole additional year? No. Am I happy I am getting out? Yes. Will I miss them? Definitely. The dorms have been a great place for my friends and I to call home. Although they made me more out of my comfort zone than I would’ve liked, I am sad to see them go, but excited for my new life elsewhere.
I would like to say that my beautiful University of Oklahoma has no flaws. However, if I said that, I would be lying. One of the major flaws that OU has is the parking situation almost everywhere you go. Specifically in my case, the parking around the dorms. At the beginning of the school year, I paid a large amount of money to acquire a parking pass that makes me eligible to park in the “Housing” spots. However, OU has completely failed to recognize that overselling the parking passes in correlation to the number of spots available is incredibly rude and inconsiderate to housing residents. For example, I literally cannot move my car from Sundays-Thursdays, otherwise I will never find another spot again. This is very frustrating because it only leaves me with nowhere to park my car. As a result, I am left with the only option of parking in a “Priority” spot, in which I am vines $30 every three hours my car is in this spot. Parking is a serious issue on the OU campus. In my opinion, I feel as though the solution to the parking debate is simply selling enough parking passes to the number of spots available. If this were to happen, it is a first come, first serve basis. If you are not able to receive a parking pass, then its simple: you cannot bring your car. However, OU makes you think that there is all the spots in the world which is, like I said, rude and inconsiderate. Hopefully the wonderful University of Oklahoma will be able to resolve this issue in a timely manner.