For Colby students, dorms are a place that is ours. They transform into new homes, ones which must fill the emptiness that coincides with leaving family and friends, as well as the comfortability of known towns and sentimental places. But, dorms also metamorphosize into spaces of change, excitement, and new opportunities.
Though a dorm seems rather trivial, it is actually one of the most important parts of our four years at Colby. Surely, dorms are places to study, to review chemistry lessons or to contemplate the poetry of Langston Hughes or Emily Dickinson. But, they are more than a mere extension of school. Within the confines of a dorm, we must live with ourselves. We think, we feel, and we reside within our heads in the quiet, still space that fills weekday nights. But, we also interact. We talk with roommates, we divulge the inner workings of our lives, and we debate. And, though these debates may seem irritating, they are a fundamental part of what it means to be here. At Colby, we are tasked to learn, to suspend certain beliefs long enough to evaluate a different perspective, and to simultaneously hold our own values intact. The people we talk to within our new Colby homes — our roommates, our friends, those we meet in common rooms or while brushing our teeth in the bathroom sink — are both inexorably different from and similar to ourselves. It would be a failure of our pupilage to not take advantage of this, to not grow from the wealth of contrasting identities, personalities, and opinions.
I’m interested in how a dorm creates this type of interaction. The best answer I’ve found is that dorms are reflections of ourselves. They are our most vulnerable spaces, filled with our knick-knacks, our artwork, and our photos of family and friends. When you enter a dorm, you are naturally having a conversation about who someone is; you are naturally learning, thinking, and understanding the cross sections of each other’s lives.
As April Anderson `29 notes, “I think it’s really nice that we can decorate our own spaces how we want. It’s an expression of ourselves.” The art we display in our personal spaces is a representation of individuality, and, while all art is emblematic of some higher meaning, there is something intrinsically personal about what we choose to display for ourselves.
Each of our dorms are unique. Some people choose to saturate their walls with photos of friends, others with favorite quotes, album covers, or political banners. Some students hang flags, others The New Yorker posters, or pictures of their favorite sports teams.
Sailor Perry `29 tells me about a collage above her desk, furnished with a mixture of eclectic finds. “I read Tintin as a kid,” she said, pointing to two postcard sized clippings on a cork board. She has a piece of art by Anastasia Inciardi, a Maine artist she found “in this little pop up in Portland.” Then, she listed a variety of different memories, contained within pictures and drawings. “This is a photo by Erin Flett,” she said. “She is a Maine artist, too. We sell her stuff at my bakery, Sailors,” she continued. “This is a postcard from my mom. This, a bunny from Quebec. That pencil holder I made out of porcelain, using a wheel, and my mom got me the red box for Christmas. It holds all my really important things — my sticker collection, travel finds, my grad tassel,” and, of course, “a small Tintin figurine.”
For Perry, her dorm is a reminder of the rest of the world — a memory box of past travels, her home in Yarmouth, and the stories and sentiments she was raised on. My conversation with Perry not only taught me more about her but also about what she believes — her values, her beloved items, and what brings her joy. There is something to be gained from being vulnerable within the four walls of your dorm room, not just for your own comfort, but also for what you can learn about others.
~ Maya Corrie `29
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