I am thinking about the first memories I made in my dorm room at Loyola University Chicago tonight. All of these TikToks displaying every freshman’s dorm arrangement have flooded my page, and they have allowed me to reflect.
My first year at Loyola began during a snowstorm. I had just returned from a year in Europe, and I knew no one. My two main friends I made that year were Katherine and Aidan. I met both of them in the dorms, and we quickly became inseparable. I met Katherine during a chat over chips and salsa with my friend Fran. I always forget how random our meeting was. Everything about that year was complicated, but there was nothing we couldn’t overcome together.
Living in a dorm for me wasn’t hard—just annoying. One of the best qualities of that campus was how tight-knit every student organization, body, or group was. Of course, freshman year drama infiltrated the dorm regularly, but now that I look back on my first six months in Chicago, none of the pettiness mattered. I was talking to one of my younger friends about entering her second year recently, and she expressed to me how worried she was about coming back and feeling the same tension as before.
I told her that most people have forgotten about your crazy roommate or the big fight you had before the school year ended. The majority of people have come to terms with their new surroundings. The hierarchy dissolves, offering you the opportunity to begin anew. For me, living in the dorm was a struggle, and my roommate freshman year sucked, but I returned the following semester with a strong trust in my gut and mind. Trusting both of those parts of myself led me to New York City.
I only lived in the dorms for one semester in New York, and the experience was pleasant after I moved into my room. Like my first dorm experience, Stuytown was cozy and cute. I didn’t know anybody living there until my friends in my class with Andrew Meier all shared our living arrangements. I know at least fifty percent of the class lived in Stuy. We never actually spent time together at Stuy, but we understood that if we needed to get away, we could.
Tonight, through the power of TikTok, I am pushed to remember the time I spent in the dorms. I can’t believe that it went by so fast, but I am grateful that I still have the opportunity to reminisce on so many aspects of my old life at Loyola. The magic sprinkled throughout the halls of Simpson is something I will never forget.
Fran, if you’re reading this,
I love and miss you,
TJL