Dorm Life 101: Living On-Campus at Concordia University, Nebraska

If you’re an incoming freshman at Concordia University, Nebraska, there is a great chance that you’ll have the opportunity to live in an on-campus dorm along with the rest of your classmates! As a primarily residential university, Concordia houses a substantial portion of its students in dormitories. From David to Timothy to Boaz and Obed, most of the campus dorms – excluding the apartment-style Jonathan – offer students nearly identical amenities and living styles. However, as a freshman, it’s unlikely that you’ve ever experienced life in such close living quarters before. Sounds like it’s time for a lesson: welcome to Concordia Dorm Life 101! 

You’ll make friends – especially in your hall 

Regular hall meetings, the first of which will probably take place during your first weekend on campus, are just one of the ways that students tend to make friends with peers who reside in the same hallway as them. Throughout the year, hall events (fun activities planned by your resident assistant) will bring you and your fellow residents even closer! In short, don’t worry about making friends. Start with the residents in your hall and go from there! 

Communal bathrooms are a fact of life, but really aren’t all that bad 

It’s common to dread the idea of having to use a communal bathroom with ten or even twenty other people, especially if you’ve come from a household where you might only share a bathroom with a few other people, if at all. Luckily, you can look forward to bathrooms that are clean, bright and usually even quiet! Depending on when you prefer to shower, brush your teeth and get ready for the day, you may be the only one in the communal bathroom at the time. Plus, Concordia’s incredible janitorial staff cleans the bathrooms each day! Do make sure to bring shower shoes, though! 

Take your roommate contract seriously, and communicate! 

During the first week of classes, you’ll have the chance to fill out something called a “roommate contract.” This contract is a sheet of paper with several questions listed that are designed for you and your roommate to answer collaboratively. They may address how the two of you will deal with conflict, messes, sharing possessions and other important topics. Take this contract seriously, because your resident assistant will keep it for reference if any of the listed scenarios comes up! If you want a simple way to resolve conflict with your roommate should it ever arise, think about it before it happens – and write it on your contract! 

What about storage space? 

Storage space is typically the topic of one of the more pressing questions that incoming college students have. Specifically, they wonder: how much storage space should I expect to have in my dorm room? The answer is: it depends. The storage space you’ll have depends on the dorm hall in which you reside, how you choose to lay out your room, and how much space the furniture you’re provided allows for storage. At a minimum, you can expect to have a full dresser and a desk with extra drawers. The furniture in certain dorm halls may provide space above the closet or shelves above your desk. Plus, if you have a bed that isn’t lofted, the space underneath is perfect for extra storage, especially of bulky items! 

Other Bonuses 

Of course, there are even more benefits to living on campus at Concordia Nebraska! For the first time this year, all non-apartment dorm rooms will come with a microfridge and a microwave, making it easy for students to store snacks and other food in their dorm rooms! No more walking out to the lounge to warm up a cup of hot chocolate or tea, either – you can do that right in the comfort of your room! However, for students whose cooking gets more involved, all dorm buildings have at least one full-size kitchen. Lounges, multiple washing machines and dryers, and student storage for the summer are just a few more of the amenities provided in Concordia’s dorms.  

As an incoming college freshman, it can be difficult to know what to expect when coming to campus to live in a dormitory for the first time. Hopefully, this article has made the “dorm life” at Concordia Nebraska a bit easier to understand so that you can arrive for your first day of college feeling a little more prepared.  

Concordia University, Nebraska is a university that emphasizes the Christ-centered message of the Gospel in a rigorous academic setting. It equips its students for service to both the church and the world, readying them not only with an academic degree but with a sense of God-given purpose that they can take into their future vocation, wherever it may lie. Schedule a visit today here.