by Keegan Malan 

When you first arrive at PUC on drop-off day, things will be very unfamiliar. Everything about it will be strange, and you’ll have to learn the ropes of how it all works. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get a head start and make PUC feel more like home. Here are some things you can do to make that a reality. 

Decorate Your Dorm Room

You don’t just have to leave everything bare in your dorm once you get settled in. There is no rule against decorating it. If you want to hang a poster, you can. Or if you want to do something with your desk, you can. Do whatever makes you feel most comfortable, and liven up that otherwise empty room. 

Learn Where Everything Is

For most people, if you live long enough in one place, you come to know where everything is. You might even know all the street names of your neighborhood, or know where to head based on landmarks. That knowledge of the place really makes you feel at home. When you know so much about a town, or, in this case, a college, it makes you more comfortable. When you rid yourself of not knowing, you become confident and secure, which is how you ought to feel at home.

Make Friends

It’s easier said than done, but it’s obvious. When you have people to talk to about all sorts of things, and you can spend a lot of time with them without getting bored, then you will be happier. And when you’re happier, good things will happen. 

Remember Faces/and to Remember to Say Hello

It’s true of any place that you will see people whose names you don’t know on a daily basis. Walking from your residence hall to class, you’ll see a landscaper, maybe, or a worker in one of the departments. Say hello to them; tip them a nod; pair both with a smile. If you see them every day, then do so every day. We all have had such people in our lives. You may say no more than half a dozen words to them, but you know their face, and you know where they will be at what time, and they will come to know you. 

It builds a sense of familiarity, and familiarity means comfort. 

Establish a Routine

We all have routines at home. What time we like to get up, like to take off for certain things, when to nap, and when to relax. If you can establish a routine at PUC, that would go a long way towards making you feel more at home. You can always break the routine, as it also tends to go that way. You make rules so you can break them. But having the routine there in the first place, not by saying “I’m going to write down a list of what to do and when to do it,” but instead naturally letting one come about, will make everything much easier than it otherwise would be.

There is, of course, more that you can do. But that is for you to discover on your own. What makes PUC feel more like home is different for everyone. So do what you think is best, and make PUC your new home.