Design Your Dorm

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Written By: Kelli B Miller of 3 Boys & a Dog

You might think it strange for me to be writing this post since my oldest is only nine. Is it really strange? Do you honestly think 9 is too young for me to start preparing him for college?
More kids today attend college than have in the past, but a higher percentage of college-bound teens flunk out now than ever before! Why? Americans, as a whole, fail to teach their students how to learn!
Nine years old, is a GREAT age for me to teach my child the skills he needs to excel in college.

1. Study Skills – Do you know how to study? No matter the age of your kids, they need to be taught to study effectively.

• Thinking Skills – Teach your children to think as they read or as they are listening to a lecture! Have them write down questions and main ideas.
• Survey – Everyone should look over the materials BEFORE attending class to get a feeling of what they will be learning. Obviously, if you tell me about Quantum Physics, it will go through one ear and out the other because I know ZERO about it. If I familiarize myself with it first, parts are more likely to stick.
• Recite – Stop reading ever so often and go through your head everything you just read. Write down questions as you read and answer them during reading breaks.
For more info, check out this great article on Effective Study Skills!

2. Money Matters – To go off to school, your child needs to understand how to budget and how to stick with it. Did you know that credit card companies prey on college students? According to a recent study by Sally Mae, the average college graduate starts their adult life already over 2,000 in credit card debt! That isn’t even counting the 20,000 dollars or so in Student Loans!
• Budgeting – Teach them to understand how to make their money last!

• Balance Checkbooks – How many college students all of a sudden have a checking account to handle when they have never done it before? Teach your child to balance their check book!

3. Basic Housekeeping – Whether your kid is going to have a dorm or an apartment in college, basic housekeeping skills are a MUST! Do you realize the number of people who get married and don’t have a clue how to do the basics?

• Cooking – Come up with some simple dishes and teach your child to cook them! This not only prepares them for later, but it saves money in the long run! It also helps them avoid the freshman 15!

• Laundry – Teach your kids the basics of laundry: reading labels, folding clothes, running the washer, etc.
• Clutter Control – Kids (no matter the age… 2-200) need to learn the basics of clutter control! Put it away when you are finished with it! Everything should have a specific home!

These are all very basic skills, but they are not always taught! Get your kids off on the right track NOW instead of trying to cram it in after Senior Year! Teach them when they are young! Remember, practice makes perfect. I don’t know about you, but I would rather my son practice now with his 2 dollars a week allowance than later with a couple thousand dollar credit card limit!
For more homeschooling and organizational ideas as well as great product reviews and giveaways, please be sure to visit my blog: 3 Boys & a Dog!
~Kelli

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What would you do if you went online and ventured over to TechCrunch and saw a story about Design Your Dorm? Well if you don’t know, then maybe you should click here and go to TechCrunch and see for yourself.

We know that the reason TechCrunch has featured us is because they have been hearing about us from many of their readers. So to all of you who wrote to TechCrunch about us, we appreciate it.

However, we were also featured on another enormous tech blog. It is actually one of Japan’s largest tech blogs, we just wish we could figure out what they were saying about us.

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Say hi

It sounds simple, and it is. Introduce yourself to: people during the first week of classes, people in your hall, people in the cafeteria. It might seem weird at first, but you have to realize that everybody else there is just as lost as you are and they want to meet people as well. Give it a try.

Study groups

Joining study groups has two advantages. First of all you get to meet people, and second of all you can knock out some much needed studying at the same time. If you are adventurous and would like to set yourself up as a leader then you can always start your own study group.

Fraternity/Sorority

Look at the dates for Fraternity/Sorority rush. Even if you don’t think you’re interested in joining the Greek system you still might want to rush. This way you can see for yourself if it is something that might be fore you.

Student Groups

If you join a student group that interests you then you will obviously find people with similar interests. Some Student Groups host social outings and events. You can also start your own group.

Intramural Sports

Aside from being immensely fun, intramural sports teams allow you to meet tons of people. Most schools also have a lot of unconventional sports for intramurals, so if you are feeling adventurous you can always play innertube water-polo or broomball.

Leave your door open

Simple, easy, and very effective. Leave your door open and during the first week you will notice that a lot of people pass by, and some will stick their head in your room and say hello. This is a really good way to get to know the people who live in your hall.

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1. Socialize
   Socializing around your dorm is a great idea. You don’t want to be known as that guy or girl who always stays in their room and never talks to anybody. Some of the people you meet will be your friends throughout college and then some.
2. Accept your roommate
   You might not be best friends with your roommate, but try to at least be cordial. You are stuck with him or her for a year, so you might as well make the best of it.
3. Get off campus
   Go out and get off campus from time to time. The weekends are a great time for doing this. Make sure to have a good time while staying safe.
4. Get a part-time job
   It might be a good idea to get a part-time job. Even if your parents supply you with enough money it could be nice to have some savings on the side, or perhaps to pay for things that your parents won’t pay for.
5. Separate
   Sometimes it’s a good idea to get away from the people in your residence hall. Go out and meet new people and do new things. But don’t completely forget about your hall-mates, you still have to come home to them every night.
6. Be safe
   If you plan on going out on the weekends to do some drinking and partying, know your limits. Make sure you have a friend with you if you are going out, especially if you’re a girl.
7. Go to class
   It is very easy to get into the habit of skipping class often. Try to avoid this. It might seem easy to get away with, but at the end of the semester you will regret it when your GPA begins to suffer.
8. Keep in touch
   Don’t forget about your high school friends. These are the people that you will go home to over breaks, and many of them are life long friends. Also make sure to keep in touch with your parents, you don’t need to talk to them everyday but they will appreciate it if you speak with them once a week.

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1. In terms of decorating, try and remain gender neutral. Ladies, no guys wants to hang out in a room that looks like a pieces of sugar free bubblegum and guys, the girls might be a little freaked out if you have your college mascot splashed across your pillowcase.
2. Seating is limited – your bed might turn into a makeshift couch. Make sure it’s comfortable by investing in an egg crate and some cool throw pillows. Throw pillows are essential – you don’t want peoples sweaty hands playing around with where you lay your head at night.
3. Set the mood with some different lighting. Floor lamps, desk lamps, and clip-on lights are all easy and cheap ways to do this. Flip off the fluorescent lights and use that floor lamp (colored lampshades are always an interesting way to mix it up).
4. Make sure your floor mates know you have some snacks to spare. The most economical way to do this is keep the food you rarely eat on display and hide the candy (what they don’t know won’t hurt them).
5. Everybody likes to play DJ – keep your i-Pod out and easily accessible so you and your friends can karaoke to everyone’s favorite songs.
6. Like most other things in life, the bigger the TV the better.
7. Invest in some TV series on DVD (think Lost, Friends, 30 Rock)
8. Storage bins are your friend. No one wants to relax in a cluttered room. Use these to keep your things organized and out of the way. In a pinch, these bins can double as an extra place to sit.
9. Get a whiteboard to hang outside your door. Write your own messages, but always make sure there’s a marker available for others to leave little notes.
10. Keep your door open when you’re just hanging out or watching TV. This is a great way keep a fresh flow of traffic inside your room and meet new people.

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So little space, so much to do – so little time. 

In just a few short months, you’re going to be moving into your freshman dorm.  Whether you know your roommate or not, designing your future room must seem like a daunting task.  The cubicle you will call home for the next nine months needs to be outfitted with so many things, from extra long bed sheets to mini-fridges to accent posters that show off your eclectic taste in music.  Coordinating who needs to bring the microwave and the TV has to be difficult with you and your roommate’s contrasting schedules.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have all of that arranged without playing phone tag and sending hundreds of Facebook messages?  Design Your Dorm is a new 3D virtual dorm room creator made to do just that.  This website acts as your own personal interior design tool, allowing you to choose your future residence hall and drag and drop furniture and other accessory items into your actual room.  You can customize your dorm room any way you like and then purchase your favorite items and have them shipped directly to your residence hall so they are waiting for you on move-in day.  Forget trying to figure out what you need to buy and what your roommate is bringing – you can use Design Your Dorm to select all the items you will need, save the changes you’ve made to your dorm room, and show your future roommate – saving each of you the precious little time you have left to hang out with your high school friends.