digsandthat.com

DigsMagazine.com
transform your space into
your personal haven
.
.
.

what's for dinner?

take the poll

 

 

 

 

a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

06.30.2003

home
editor's note 
_____________

DEPARTMENTS
 
o lounge 
o nourish 
 
o host
o
laze
_____________

o BOARDS
o SHOP 
o send an ECARD
_____________

about
contact
submit your ideas
search

..
big decorating dreams. tiny little budget. don't be a wallflower! jump on over to the discussion boards and get decorating help.
 

copyright ©1999-2003
DigsMagazine.com.

dorm life take two
by Dana Currier | 
1 2 3
continued from page 2

Now, at the beginning of the summer, with the campus empty and every dorm room vacant, I am more than ready for some good old-fashioned boredom. At 23, I still won't be quite ready next fall to be a surrogate mother to the new batch of girls in my dorm, but the apartment, the check-in clipboard, and the "I mean business" tone of voice I've been forced to adopt make it impossible for me to be a friend to them either. It's a bizarre role that I've taken on, moving out of one dorm, a carefree college kid, and into another as a serious adult. The piercing shriek of a female adolescent voice has an entirely new meaning to me now. Even as I sit relaxing in the apartment I'd never in a million years be able to afford in the real "real world," my nerves stand on end. "What are they up to now?" I think, wondering whether I should rush out into the hallway and prevent something that is surely against the rules from happening. Once another situation has been diffused, I return to my place and look around again, thankful for the good fortune I have to live in a nice apartment without a monthly rent, but all too cognizant of the fact that I'm paying for it all the same.

Perhaps it's better this way though. The money I'd pay in rent would probably go to a stodgy, uncaring landlord. Here at boarding school, I pay for the roof over my head in blood, sweat, and tears, hopefully to make a difference in the lives of a sometimes wayward group of teenage girls. They may roll their eyes behind my back, but I think they need me, a positive female role model, someone they might become in a few years, to show them it's possible to survive your adolescence and to grow up to be something, a teacher, a coach, or just a woman who is (sometimes) confident enough to assert her authority. Living here has no doubt been one of the hardest experiences of my life but still, I'm going back for more next year. What can I say? I can't turn down the closet space — and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for more of those happier moments in the halls.

o

Dana Currier is a recent college graduate who is experimenting with as many different professions as she can — including teaching, coaching, and newspaper writing — on a quest to figure out what she'd like to do with her life. She lives in the extreme southwest corner of Massachusetts on the campus of a boarding school, where she is currently making the most of the peace and quiet by running, writing, and cooking as much as she can.

 

check out these related articles: 
leaving home  | after school | life in the "frathouse" | the other bubble
a room of my own
  

 

---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home.