Every now and then, I notice some of the more glaring faults of living in a residence hall here on campus. People puking in the hallways and all over the restroom floor, thunderous music beginning the minute quiet hours end, irritating roommate habits, an infuriating amount of room-to-room drama and the fact that all of us live in oversized sardine can-style rooms.

I can fully understand why so many college students are eager to move out of the “juvenile” residence halls and to rent out houses or apartments to live in. But at the same time, I’m supremely glad the University mandates students to stay in the dorm for their first two years of classes.

No, I’m not crazy (or maybe I am! Hmmm ” ), but I believe that my fellow freshmen and I are fortunate to be required to spend our first years in the residence halls here on campus.

Living in a residence hall encourages (and requires) students to adopt new social ideas and outlooks on other people; skills which they will need to be more socially accepting and tolerant later in life. After all, there are over 300 million people in this country, all with unique (and sometimes controversial) lifestyles, hobbies, activities, addictions, cravings, careers, work ethics and styles. It’s imperative to be socially accepting and tolerant in today’s ever-evolving progressive society.

After all, we’re not living in the idealistic 1950s anymore – which was a fundamentally flawed decade anyway.

Frankly, I’m actually quite happy to live in a room comparable in size to the backseat of a 1993 Nissan Quest minivan (my vehicle of choice). By cramming my roommate and me into such a space, we have been forced to observe and analyze each other’s lifestyle and habits, all while living together in said room.

Many questions are asked, a few arguments are started and more than a handful of embarrassing/infuriating events occur (like me getting locked out of my room and ending up sleeping on the carpet in front of my door).

But the end justifies the means: an increased tolerance of others, a greater understanding of other people’s lifestyles and activities and a heightened sense of what is socially acceptable (and of what is not) are all traits I hope to gain by the conclusion of this academic year.

And based on some of the more extreme social happenings I’ve witnessed on my floor and in my room (ranging from hygiene product pranks to intense peer-to-peer drama), I think that I will be a mastermind of residence hall life by the end of this semester!

OK, not really. But I will not deny that my time spent in a residence hall has helped me to become a better person.

This is precisely why I am nettled when my peers complain about the residence life policy which mandates freshmen to spend their first two years on campus.

I will not deny that living off-campus in a house or apartment also gives people the opportunity to become more open-minded and socially accepting, but it’s the type of tightly-knit social interaction in a residence hall which allows its residents to better themselves.

Over in my glorious Kohl Hall home, there are plenty of friendships, arguments, good times, bad times, considerate people and people who like to blare their music loudly all day long (read: me).

Sound familiar? That’s because it’s just like real life! Living in a residence hall allows students to witness and experience all of the drama and shenanigans of real life, all in a convenient tuna-can sized package!

I’m just joking about that last part, of course. Once you get used to the compact size of the typical dorm room, things don’t seem so cramped.

After all, when thinking about life in a residence hall and looking back at life with Mom, Dad, and your siblings, do you really want to go back? Sure, I liked life at home, and I do go back every now and then, but you can’t beat life in a residence hall.

You’ve got loud people, louder music, fights, shout-outs, annoying pranks, public restrooms and more drama than 100 cheerleaders crammed into a room all vying for one spot left on the team.

Man, why wouldn’t anyone want to live in a residence hall?

But seriously, residence halls are great places to develop new social skills and to improve tolerance towards others. It’s not so bad here on campus, and that’s one of the reasons why I’ll be spending my next year in totally bodacious Kohl Hall.

Have fun with your private bathrooms and peace and quiet, all you upperclassmen.