Undecided/Undeclared Anteaters Blog

I’m back again, guys. Hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving break!  It’s almost time for finals, don’t freak out just yet. You can do this. Before you decide to do that just read my article first, okay?

So today I decided to make a continuation of my last post on hallmates. In my last post I covered how to meet your mates and make friends with them. In this post I think I am going to cover how to maintain that friendship (or help it grow) with activities. Or, basically, what to do while hanging out.

Not all of us have cars and not all of us can go to places that are not on campus. Either we have a lack of transportation or we’re just plain broke. In times like that, how do we hang out with friends who are in the same situation?

Here are a list of some of the things that I thought of off the top of my head, as well as some suggestions from several of my hallmates whom I’ve decided to ask:

Play videogames, play board games, organise a movie night, dress up/make up sessions (and take pictures), share stories and experiences (bonding time), doing hair/nails, eating competitions, cooking, hide and go seek, tell scary stories, sing karaoke, make prank calls.

I can’t write about all of them or else this will be a really long blog post. So I’ll pick a favourites of mine.

1. Organise a movie night
• Call up a few mates, schedule a time so everyone can get their homework done ahead of time, clean your room, buy some snacks, and pick your movie! This is my favourite activity because usually the movie is something that my friends and I will are enjoy, and it’s interesting to see how different people react to different things that they see on the screen.It’s cheap, you’ll can have fun in the comfort of your own room, and it’ll allow your friends to come and be more familiar with your living space, and everyone can take turns hosting the nights so you will all have been to each other’s rooms by then. I usually schedule my movie nights around 8pm, so that we can all be in bed by 10 or 11 for class the next day. Don’t forget to buy a few snacks so you guys have something to munch on while watching the screen. It would be fun to turn off your lights and try to emulate a movie theatre as much as possible.
2. Play video games!
• How can someone NOT like to play video games? Okay, there are some people out there like that. But playing with multiple people is usually fun, either it be the Wii, the Playstations, DS’s, etc. I only play my DS Lite and I haven’t touched my Playstation 2 in a few years, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to snatch it out and connect it to the TV so my friends can have a little fun.
  
  If none of your mates have a TV in their rooms, you should totally take the game night into the common room! The TVs there should be bigger and you would have more space to play, jump around, and run (especially if you’re going to play Wii or Kinect). Perhaps others will even join you in the fun and that would be another way to make new acquaintances/friends and become more familiar with the people who live in your hall.
3. Share stories and experiences.
• Girls love to do this, but that doesn’t mean boys don’t do it either (I think?). It’s not like you just call up your friends over to your room specifically to share stories…at least I don’t do that. This is just something that happens naturally while you “hang out” in each other’s rooms. It’s a perfect bonding process that can help strengthened the friendship.
  Share secrets, problems, past experiences, future dreams, etc. Basically talk about anything you want, it’s pretty self-explanatory. To share your words and to hear the words of others is entertaining and interesting in of itself and it allows you to better know the other person. Who wouldn’t want that? And oh, nothing wrong with bringing out a few snacks or two. People love food.
4. Sing karaoke.
• Oh my gosh, I absolutely LOVE to sing karaoke. If you have an actual video game that allows you to do this then go for it and set it up in your room, your friend’s room, or the common room. If you don’t, just blast some music and sing along. Granted that this is NOT during Quiet Hours, of course.
  Singing karaoke with a group of friends is one of those moments where you can be as silly as you want and not have to worry about embarrassing yourself since it’s pretty much a free pass to do, say, and sing in any manner you want. Maybe you can turn it into a little singing contest as well. Either way it is fun, and you can figure out what songs/artists you guys have in common or not in common.

These are but a few of the things that anyone can do in their hall with their friends. Some people have way more creative activities they can come up with. If there is anything you and your friends do that wasn’t on the list I provided it would be awesome for you to comment and tell me what it is. All right, Finals Week is coming and you guys should ALL go hunker down and start studying so you will pass. Freak Out Time starts…now.

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