Res-Life at otonabee
What should I bring with me to residence?
Trent is getting closer and closer and I bet everyone is getting very anxious. If you are anything like we are, you’ll have already started a small (or large!) pile in your basement of stuff to bring with you to res. Coming out of high school and moving into uni can be a very big deal and certain items can't be left to the last minute. We've learned our lessons from moving ourselves and others into res multiple times, so we have started this list of items that you might not think of until you arrive at Trent. You want to make OC your home away from home, and hopefully this list will help you achieve that! - Coat hangers for all your lovely clothes - Speaking of clothes… Your clothes! Bring almost your entire wardrobe. Laundry will be done few and far in between if you are lazy like us. You’ll want clothes for every temperature (whether or not you want to leave your winter clothes at home until the October reading break is up to you) and you’ll want to pack your bathing suit (the river, duh, and the swimming pool in the AC), semi-formal and formal clothes. You’ll also want to bring clothes in your residence colours to show your spirit during ISW. OC’s colours are gold/yellow and navy blue. - A lanyard or a key ring to put all of your keys on. You’ll need to take good care of your keys this year, make sure they’re attached to something you can easily find. And the more unique your lanyard to key chains are, the harder it will be to have them lost in a crowd at big ISW events. - Toiletries. If you use something when you wake up in the morning, bring it. - A mini fridge. If you didn't order a rental through the school when you signed up for residence, then you should definitely bring your own. Otherwise, all of your milk and cheese will go bad sitting on your floor. Also, your drinks won't be cold. Total buzzkill. - A microwave and a one piece kettle without an exposed element. Trent doesn't allow hotplates or exposed elements in rez due to the fire hazard, so you will definitely need at least the microwave to make food in your room after everything else on campus closes. - Lots of food for after the places to eat on rez shut down! If you have a mini fridge, healthy fruits and veggies are great to help you eat healthy. If you don’t, a variety of ramen noodles will do nicely. Late night snacks are awesome and are also great to bring to class as a pick-me-up. Only then they wouldn't be late night snacks. More like in class snacks. Moving on. - Posters and decorations for your room. Your room is your bubble that is your little hideaway from the rest of the university. It should scream YOU. Also, bring STICKY TACK or PAINTERS TAPE to put this stuff up. Holes in walls are a big no-no. - Flip Flops for the shower. This is a must as sometimes you may not know who has been in the shower since the last time that you were! - An office chair for your desk. There will be a chair provided but I suggest you use it as a backup. You will be doing A LOT of sitting and working in the coming year and there is nothing worse than trying to read or write while your back and posterior region are killing you because you're in an uncomfortable chair. - Some type of foam topper for your bed. Same thing as with the chair. If your bed isn't comfortable for you, you're going to be in for some rough nights. - A plant. You'd be surprised how much a plant can cheer up a room, especially in the winter. Their most amazing quality is breathing our CO2, which all you science students probably already knew about. Plant + Gross Muggy Room = Nice Airy Room. Just don’t forget to water it! - Office crap: A printer with lots of paper and backup ink (Unless you can find someone to bum off of), ***LOTS*** of pens, a stapler, white-out and notebooks for your classes. Chances are you won't need binders as badly as in high school due to the fact that you won't be getting as many loose leaf papers from your classes as before. In addition to that, bring whatever else you like to amuse yourselves with when doing work. Oh, and a computer or laptop would probably be helpful. - Headphones for late-night movie watching or music listening if you like your music loud. - A phone. You will get local calling and limited long distance with your rez phone/internet package as well as extended long distance if you choose to pay for it but in order to talk at all, you’ll have to bring your own phone up. If you’re a cell person, that works too. Just don’t bring an old school rotary one though, or people will laugh at you. - Chargers for all of your electronics. - A fan. It can get pretty hot in September, and since OC doesn't have air conditioning you will be dying for a fan in the first few weeks of school. Luckily, this problem eliminates itself after about two to three weeks when you'll be wishing it was warm out again. Will we ever be satisfied?! - A lamp. Nobody likes reading in the dark. Every room will have a lamp in it, but not necessarily next to your bed or wherever you like to read. - An alarm clock. These guys don't have a convenient silent/vibrate setting on them like cell phones do. We don't know how many people (ourselves included) have missed class or handing something in because they set their alarm on their phone and accidentally left it on silent or vibrate. Don't be a statistic people, bring a legit alarm. - A few plates, bowls and cutlery as well as some paper plates. You're going to end up needing something to eat with at some point so bring a few things. Paper plates are also great if you don't have the time to do dishes or if you order a pizza and everybody wants plates or something. It’s the same with cups/red solos. (Side note here: You cannot put paper plates in the microwave. Bring a few legit plates. Please. We do not need to be woken up in the middle of the night by the fire alarm because you wanted some pogos and tried to microwave them on a paper plate.) - Soap. This includes dish soap for your dishes as well as laundry detergent for your...laundry. This is an important part of washing, but we're sure you all learned that a long time ago. One of those scrubby things are also very handy if you let your dishes go a day or two or a week too long. - Towels. Think of how much you are going to want to do laundry in a week and think of how often you’ll want to wash your towels. Hand towels are also handy. Hehe. - A house coat. The OC bathrooms are not necessarily right beside your bedroom, which means a small commute back and forth. Avoid unwanted awkward situations by bringing a house coat. A shower tote is also helpful, so you aren't juggling all of your products to and from your room. - Power bars. If you're a gamer like Sam or if you like to plug in girly stuff like hair straighteners and light-up twilight posters like Jim then you'll definitely need at least two. You'll be surprised at how quickly your few outlets get eaten up when all of your appliances and electronics are in the same room. - Bed sheets, pillows and pillowcases. Every bed in OC is a standard twin size so bring your own sheets and blankets that will fit. Pillows aren't provided, as that would be super gross. |
What shouldn't I bring to residence?
So the list to the left is quite a long one! You can bring almost anything you want to residence, but there are a few things you should leave at home to avoid getting into trouble with the residence agreement! - Bed or mattress. You are supplied one with you room, so bring a mattress pad or something with memory foam to make it softer. Unless you have spoken with housing services before your arrival about bringing your own bed for medical purposes, do not bring a new one! - Items that elevate furniture. There is already a lot of room under your bed. You're not allowed to make it any higher. - Items with open elements (hot plates/grills/etc). These are fire hazards, especially if left on. Try to stick to pieces that have auto-off settings! Keep in mind that toasters and kettles should be used in the kitchenette/common room areas as well. - Candles/incense. No open flames! Fire hazards. Obvi. - Weapons! Not even decorative ones. Not even nerf guns. - Nails/packing tape/duct tape for posters or pictures. Do not damage your walls! At the end of the year, you'll move out of your res room and you don't want to be charged for any peeling paint because of a few posters. Avoid putting holes in your walls by using adhesive hooks (from Walmart!) If you would like to learn more about the residence agreement, and more about the rules associated with living in residence, follow this link: http://www.trentu.ca/housing/documents/ResidenceGuide2013-2014.pdf What do the rooms look like? Traditional Single Room: The picture is taken from the door and does not include the large walk in closet. This is a very typically single room in OC.
Traditional Triple Room:
This photo was taken from the top of the 3rd bunk bed. The door to the room would be to the lower left corner of this room!
This photo is of the same room, and is taken from in front of the window.
If you want a more thorough tour of a single, double and triple room, check out this youtube video posted by the Trent Housing Team!
So, residence life and ISW...How will THAT work?
It will be very easy for you to hear about all of the exciting things going on for ISW. You will receive a package during move in that will list all of the times and locations for all of the events. In addition, the ISW staff assigned to your house are going to make it their mission to get you involved. They'll be around every morning bright and early to wake you up, and they'll be there every night to invite you out. There will not be a single dull moment of your first week in residence! Life in OC - Advice from last year's residents "Participate in as many college and joint college events as possible and build connections with other people in OC and on campus as well as profs and advisors!" ~ ISW leader Cassandra, Off-Campus "Remember money? Remember how nice it felt to actually have some? Plan a budget and stick to it." ~ Micaela, D-House "Move into residence with an open mind and positive attitude. There WILL be noise." ~ Mason, H-House "Introduce yourself to as many people as you can and go to all of the events. Frosh week helps you make so many friends. I met most of my best friends in my amici group." ~ Xavier, H-House |