Disasters on the home front

Something must be in the Harrisonburg air — possibly the horrendous dog food smell — to cause the crazy events that happen in dorms. Below, students reveal some of their dormitory dilemmas.

Dancing to the wrong beat

Junior Caitlyn Powitz recalled the dance parties of her freshman and sophomore year; hardly a day passed without one. She endured choreographed numbers — complete with costumes — that were performed every time a new person came to their suite.

The worst came when two suitemates executed a well- thought out parody of a music video during finals week. "How can a girl function with so many distractions?" Powitz said.

Stink, stank, stunk

Students don’t have to be dancing to cause a stir, however. Unplugging certain items in one’s room can result in major disaster. Junior Susan Benjaminson recounted how a hallmate of hers unplugged her refrigerator so she could use her VCR.

The hallmate did not remember the plug switch until four weeks later, when someone smelled a curious odor coming from the room.

"Honestly, we could smell it before we stepped out of the elevator! I posted a sign to let everyone know exactly where the nasty smell lived," Benjaminson said. To all of the hallmates’ horror, milk had been left in the refrigerator.

Benjaminson and her hallmates picked up the fridge and carried it to the bathroom on the other side of the hall in order to wash it out. The fridge then was left out in the hall.

The entire incident resulted in two incident documentations by their RA for stinking up a public area and the other for leaving the disgusting item in the hall, which strictly is prohibited by the Office of Residence Life.

Saved by the bell

Most students understand how to properly use a microwave to make popcorn. Sadly, there are some who manage to fail at it miserably — at 4 a.m. — on the second night of freshmen orientation. As a result, junior Christen Lawrence and her hallmates rudely were awoken by a shrieking fire alarm.

"Our anger at that late hour was greatly intensified by having to walk down from the eighth floor and knowing we’d have to climb back up [the stairs]," Lawrence said.

Their night became more interesting when a group of guys walked up to them with a bouquet of flowers that they had rescued from the dumpster.

When the guys decided to serenade them with "You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling," the girls realized that dorm life can shake a person up, but when it comes right down to it, these moments — good and bad — are what make college so worthwhile.