Despite Owl City’s promise that “It’s always a good time,” if you’ve ever spent an entire night listening to someone stomp up and down the hallway slamming doors in your residence, you know this is just not true. There are many perks to residence life, but noisy neighbours is not one of them.
The difficulty of sharing space with other people, especially those you’ve never met before, is that everyone has different late-night routines and customs that they want to adhere to. These practices, however, are not always compatible and can be a major pain for other students living in residence. So how do you make your residence your home, a place that you’re comfortable in, while respecting and tolerating those who live there with you? Here’s some advice:
1) Use headphones – Headphones can work for those who wish to escape noise, as well as those who wish to create it. If you want to keep from hearing drunken conversations wafting up through your window at 2:30 a.m., pop in your earbuds and turn on some music, a movie, or just about anything to drown out the noise. If you want to listen to music in the middle of the night, use a pair of headphones and turn your music up all the way if you want; even if it produces a little noise that others can hear, you’re guaranteed to be much more likeable to those trying to fall asleep.
2) Get a fan – This can make all the difference. If you haven’t already purchased a fan to combat heat, buying one to conquer noise is a good plan. Fans produce white noise, which will most likely be louder than the conversations floating into your room and the noise remains consistent so that your mind doesn’t have anything new to pick up on. You can get a cheap fan at Walmart for $10, perfect for a student budget, and enjoy its many functions.
3) Talk to an RA – No one likes to throw others under the bus, but talking to an RA can really help— especially if you have something big (like a midterm or exam) going on the next day. Residence may be home to some loud people, but remember it’s your home too, and you have just as much right to some peace and quiet as they believe they do to their noise.
Ultimately, remember to be respectful. Consider how many other people you live with and how you would want them to act in the middle of the night if you were trying to sleep. At some time or another, we’ve all wanted silence— so keep that in mind the next time you decide to loudly laugh it up in the hallway during the wee hours of the morning.
