Privacy not easy for students in the dorms

By Victoria Lewis / Staff writer

Living in a dormitory can be one of the best parts of college life, but being surrounded by people every waking hour can cause privacy issues.

Most students living in the Elland and Kent halls at Hutchinson Community College share a room with another student, unless they are willing to pay the extra $400 to secure a single room. This proves to be a problem at times for students when they need to make a private phone call, sleep in peace or even just have an hour to themselves.

Nestus Burger, a freshman from Perth, Australia is new to the school this semester and said the living situation in Elland Hall isn’t for the quiet kind.

“I don’t get much downtime in the dorms as it is very loud,” he said. “If I was on a private call, I go into the lobby where I can be by myself.

“The dorm rooms at night can get very loud as the walls are extremely thin – you can most definitely hear the dorm rooms next to you and above you. It can be very hard to sleep some nights,” said Burger.

Noise is not only a complaint of those living in the men’s halls, as Cheney freshman Brynn McCormick said.

“Weekends are typically loud,” McCormick said. “It depends on the day of the week.

“My neighbor and I communicate pretty well, so if one of us is too loud, we’ll let each other know. But we can’t control what happens in the hall, so yes, it can get pretty loud at night sometimes.”

McCormick also noted the thin walls of Elland

“Falling asleep with the noise was a struggle at the beginning of the first semester, but I’ve gotten used to it now,” McCormick said.

Despite having her own room this semester, McCormick said that sometimes she can hear a movie her neighbor will be watching, or dice being dropped over and over from the room above.

“One way the dorm privacy could improve would definitely be to be more strict on the quiet hours,” McCormick said. “And have guest bathrooms that can actually be accessible to guests.” The visiting hours in the dorms are until 12am on school nights and then unrestricted on weekends.

Lack of privacy is a common feature of all college dormitories across the globe, and HutchCC is no different. If students so wish, they are able to request to live in the suites of Elland or Kent, which are more spaced out and have private bathrooms, or to live in off-campus apartments to help deal with privacy issues.

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