Leaving On a Jet Plane

ANTVGM64

Hello there Help Advice Forum, you may remember from such threads as "I need an IPOD, watch me fumble with technology" and "erectile dysfunction, A story of not quite hard knocks".


Anyway, In 23 days I am moving away from my home to a completely new City and State for school, Chicago specifically, for school. This is going to be my first time living on my own. Other than that time I built a fort in my back yard during summer vacation many moons ago. I'm going to be living in a dorm/apartment thing at Columbia College Chicago, where I'll be studying Television Writing and Producing. I'm currently from Massachusetts.


Anyway, this is pretty much going to be my first time living on my own. So yeah, I'm excited, yet terrified. So in regards to tips, tricks, or what not would be great.

But I did have a couple of questions.

1) I'm 22 years old, and if I were to hypothecially go to a college party where under-age drinking were taking place, would I be fucked because of my age, even if I did not procure the alchohol being drank?

2) I have class 3 days a week, and otherwise I think I'll be free most of the time, what are some cool things to do in South Chicago?

3) I know I should keep my shit locked, and not let anyone near my IPOD/Laptop and what have you.

4) Any unwritten rules I should know about Dorm life? Does the corny elastic band on the door thing still apply?

I imagine I'll have more questions as the days and weeks progress, so any help is greatly welcome and thanked for in advance.

khain

1) I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but its somewhat likely that alcohol won't be allowed in the dorm at all. It also depends on how harsh the RAs (resident adviser or whoever is in charge of the floor) are. At the UW as long as you kept your door closed, was somewhat quiet, and wasn't obviously drunk in the hall they really didn't care. You can probably find the punishments in some sort of dorm rule book, but chances are its nothing big unless you continually get caught.

3) I'd buy one of those laptop locks that then attaches to your desk and its somewhat likely that sometime during the year you'll accidentally leave your door open or unlocked.

CooterTKE

1) if you are at a party with alcohol and you do not physically live there you will not be charged with a contributing ticket.

ANTVGM64

Thank you.

As far as the booze thing goes the reason I ask is that I'm on a "21 plus" floor, so booze I imagine will be flowing frequently, as will, I imagine, underage drinkers.

Raneados

just don't be a douche

forgive the little things people have

agree on room rules with roommates

pretty much just conduct yourself like a decent, considerate person

grungebox

1) Probably won't get a ticket if it's not your place. But don't buy alcohol for the party
Corollary: As a 22 year-old, expect a lot of people to mooch off of you for alcohol. I wouldn't bring up how old you are until you're sure the people you're with aren't leeches, since I'm sure you could easily pass for 20

3) Yes, keep everything on you or locked that's important, if it's not in your room. Things like your iPod can easily get stolen if your roommate has a bunch of people over to your place, for example.

4) I don't think there's a definite rule about this sort of thing. Though, in your case try to be considerate. If your roommate has a test the next day, don't keep him locked outside of the room while you're doing whatever with whomever.

Trowizilla

1) No, you won't be charged unless someone can prove you provided alcohol to minors. Most colleges don't actually care all that much about (unobtrusive) underage drinking, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

4) Keeping your door open is pretty much a universal sign that you want to socialize. Don't be afraid to do this, and don't be afraid to hang out with other people who leave their doors open. Talk to your roommates about the other rules, like how often it's okay to have girls over, when they need quiet to study, etc..

VThornheart

khain wrote: »

1) I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but its somewhat likely that alcohol won't be allowed in the dorm at all. It also depends on how harsh the RAs (resident adviser or whoever is in charge of the floor) are. At the UW as long as you kept your door closed, was somewhat quiet, and wasn't obviously drunk in the hall they really didn't care. You can probably find the punishments in some sort of dorm rule book, but chances are its nothing big unless you continually get caught.

The corollary to this is that if you ARE loud or drunken in public, you'll likely be pushing the RAs into a situation where they have to choose between busting you or losing their jobs (and thus, their living arrangements).

Don't make them have to choose that. Like any reasonable human being, they'll choose busting you every time... because when it comes right down to it, losing the roof over your head sucks.

Also, though I agree with most of Trowizilla's assessment above, I should note that if the party is in your room and there's underaged people there, even if they don't have alcohol in their hands if an RA has to come to the room you'll likely be cited. I've been an RA at two schools, and that's generally policy. Whether you'll actually be found responsible is another question, but you'll definitely be cited and asked to toss out the alcohol/remove your guests if there's an underaged person in the room while you're drinking (again, if it got to the point where they even knew that).

Another good rule of thumb. Don't use bottles. The loud clinking of bottles is a dead giveaway if you're throwing a party in your room. Many, many people could avoid trouble by using cans or cups, and avoiding the use of bottles.

/RA_advice

Trowizilla

VThornheart wrote: »

khain wrote: »

1) I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but its somewhat likely that alcohol won't be allowed in the dorm at all. It also depends on how harsh the RAs (resident adviser or whoever is in charge of the floor) are. At the UW as long as you kept your door closed, was somewhat quiet, and wasn't obviously drunk in the hall they really didn't care. You can probably find the punishments in some sort of dorm rule book, but chances are its nothing big unless you continually get caught.

The corollary to this is that if you ARE loud or drunken in public, you'll likely be pushing the RAs into a situation where they have to choose between busting you or losing their jobs (and thus, their living arrangements).

Don't make them have to choose that. Like any reasonable human being, they'll choose busting you every time... because when it comes right down to it, losing the roof over your head sucks.

Also, though I agree with most of Trowizilla's assessment above, I should note that if the party is in your room and there's underaged people there, even if they don't have alcohol in their hands if an RA has to come to the room you'll likely be cited. I've been an RA at two schools, and that's generally policy. Whether you'll actually be found responsible is another question, but you'll definitely be cited and asked to toss out the alcohol/remove your guests if there's an underaged person in the room while you're drinking (again, if it got to the point where they even knew that).

Another good rule of thumb. Don't use bottles. The loud clinking of bottles is a dead giveaway if you're throwing a party in your room. Many, many people could avoid trouble by using cans or cups, and avoiding the use of bottles.

/RA_advice

Minor note: it depends on where you're going to school. Some schools just plain old don't care about underage drinking as long as you're not causing a problem by being too loud, driving, or getting sick. At mine, my RA regularly bought my freshman-self liquor, and I've been drunk at parties where the security guards came to tell us to keep it down and steadfastly ignored the underaged drinkers.

You should be able to get a feel for how your school handles that sort of thing pretty quickly, though.

ANTVGM64

I didn't know the open doors means socialize with us thing. I'm totally going to use that.

Wiley

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

I didn't know the open doors means socialize with us thing. I'm totally going to use that.

Especially if you'll be playing video games and such. I always assumed that if a door was open it was ok to see what was going on.

grumm

Yeah. The open door policy is great. In the freshman dorms, almost everyone would keep their doors open during the day, and that allowed everyone to get to know each other.

Monolithic_Dome

Probably a good time to make the seemingly obvious but often-ignored advice that if you leave your doors open or unlocked when you are not there, people are going to take your shit.

Usually this is a problem when someone loses their key or a friend/girlfriend is coming and going independent of the dorm's residents. Don't leave the door unlocked.

digital.aaron

1) Don't sweat the alcohol. You probably aren't going to have parties in your dorm room, so you don't have to worry about the same things a host would have to.

2) There are probably plenty of social goups / clubs on campus. I would check those first, as it will be another way to meet people. Otherwise, I know Chicago is a large metropolitan area, so there's bound to be plenty of things to do. Pick up an entertainment newspaper/magazine at a bar or coffee house of somwhere.

3) If you share a room, I would advise getting a small safe or something similar for you electronics. If you'll be alone, always lock your door.

4) Get to know your neighbors. This will make it easier to approach them for whatever reasons (I'm mostly thinking of noise issues, like when you have to ask them to keep it down so you can sleep/study/whatever). Also, nobody likes a rat. Try not to tattle on any dormmates you see doing less than legal activities. If it's minor stuff (girls in the room after the coed cut-off time), nobody cares about that. If it's more "serious" stuff, like somebody smoking a joint in their room, they will get caught without your help, so try to just stay out of it. If you have a roommate, try to agree on some basic ground rules.

In general, just go with the flow and have a good time. Don't slack off too much (i.e. know when to stop playing WoW and hit the books), but don't be an uptight square, either. College should be the most enjoyable time of your life. It is the last of your youth when you still have relatively few responsibilites, but plenty of time to enjoy yourself.

ANTVGM64

So I'm guessing having Weed is higher on the "You are so fucked" scale and than Under-age drinking?

Dehumanized

probably. it'd be a good idea to familarize yourself with your school's drug/alcohol policy. it probably won't be enforced to the level set out on the rules, but it's a good idea to know what your maximum liability is.

VThornheart

ANTVGM64 wrote: »

So I'm guessing having Weed is higher on the "You are so fucked" scale and than Under-age drinking?

Depends on the school. At the first school I was an RA at (Keene State College in Keene, NH), we were told that we weren't even ALLOWED to handle it. We had to immediately call the police (NOT the campus security, the real 9-1-1 police), and then try to keep the people there until the police arrived. The second school I went to (California State University, Sacramento) dealt with pot internally with citations as opposed to getting police or campus security involved.

So it varies WIDELY.

EDIT: Not that we ever actually called the police though, I should note. One of the kids on my floor used to tape their door shut so him and his roommates could smoke it up... they were quiet about it and never got caught, so I played dumb. If they ever did something stupid enough that someone else knew though, I'd have had no choice but to follow protocol or lose my room and board... which would've meant they'd have been in trouble with the actual law, which would've sucked. Again, it all comes down to "don't force the RAs into having to choose between their well being and yours."