YOUniversity of Miami – People outside the dorms

We have five beautiful dorms at the University of Miami. Hecht and Stanford are always seen in the skyline pictures of our school; Pearson and Mahoney house some of our top athletes and scholars; and Eaton sits picturesquely right next to our lake. While there is no question that our dorms are great, there are a few people that take it too far.

There’s nothing wrong with relaxing outside your dorm for a little. If you’re waiting for a ride, if you’re smoking, if you have fifteen minutes to kill between classes, then by all means, grab one of those green chairs, and post up! However, be wary, because soon this casual relaxation could become a lifestyle.

There are two types of dorm-sitters that come to mind, and coincidentally enough, I have an example for each! There are those that turn dorm-sitting into a great experience, and then there are those that let it become a lifestyle.

For example, a group of four girls that I’m rather close with lived in Hecht last year as freshmen. Like many freshmen, they enjoyed the Florida weather by sitting outside to study and to socialize.

Over the first few months, it was merely out of habit that they sat at the same table, just off to the side of the bridge. However, as the months passed, it became far more than a habit; it was a necessity.

Whether I passed the table on my way to the gym at two in the afternoon, on my way to dinner at seven at night, or stumbled past it at three in the morning, one of the girls was always sitting there! They truly loved that one specific table, and now, as they look back, it is a fond memory, and a good story.

The less positive type of dorm-sitters concerns a group of people I met last year, who chose sitting outside their dorms over anything else. Every day and night, for hours on end, they would sit outside and chat up the people that came by.

Sure, they did their homework and smoked and did standard dorm-sitting activities. But I swear to Oprah, I walked by one day after class, at three in the afternoon, and saw four of them sleeping at a table, two with pillows. That’s not right.

The groups of people that sit outside their dorms do add a lot to our great school. They’ve been outside to see the University of Miami at its best, watching its bright students walk by in their daily lives. The dorm-sitters are out there, right in the heart of our school! So yes, take some time, and sit outside and enjoy your life at this fantastic tropical school. But after a little bit, get up and move on. After all, as an unknown author said, “There must be more to life than sitting wondering if there is more to life.