Room draw is just around the corner! (Or so I’ve heard? I’m about to get put down I don’t have time to think about room draw.) I’ve never chosen a dorm because I’ve been a member of the Norwegian house since my sophomore year, but my friends have been through room draw, so here’s some advice based on my observations.
- Play a tuba. You want to make sure your new living space has good acoustics. Bring along a tuba and blast it! 3 a.m. is the best time to do this because the dorm should be mostly silent at that time.
- Cook lutefisk. Test out your new kitchen to make sure it will be able to handle the most challenging meals you can think of.
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- Shower in every dorm. There’s nothing stopping you from donning a bathrobe and walking across the quad to another dorm to try out a shower there!
- Test the smoke alarms. You want to make sure the smoke alarms work (or don’t) in your next residence hall. Light something ablaze and see what the response is.
- Put on three thick sweaters, then strip to your underwear. Make sure your next residence hall will be comfortable no matter what your temperature.
- Knock on some doors. Don’t be afraid to ask people to see their rooms! Be respectful about it and be prepared for them to say no.
- Pick a dorm you haven’t banged in. Obviously we’re all trying to get a perfect score and have sex in every St. Olaf building. If you choose to room in a building you haven’t done the dirty in yet, your odds of checking that building off the list go up!
- Avoid depending on elevators. A bird strike at Big Ole could happen any moment. If our campus is without power you do not want to live on the twelfth floor of Larson.
- Learn Norwegian. If you learn Norwegian you can apply to live in the language honor house, which is just a fun time.
- Don’t live in a cursed dorm. Make sure you avoid those at all costs!
Teague Peterson-McGuire is from Oconomowoc, Wic. His majors are film and media studies and Nordic studies.
