The Dorm Life: Helser, ISU

I lived in Helser my freshman year. So here are a few things:

• Yes to fans. Multiple fans, you will appreciate them. A small one for in your bed (since I'm guessing you'll loft), will save you the first couple weeks of school.
• The rooms are pretty small, so like others have said, getting a loft will gain you a lot of room. Be careful not to get one that is too large. My first roommate my freshman year had a huge custom made loft that she put in front of the only window. It was stuffy as hell in there the first couple weeks and she rarely left the windows open. If you get a small-ish one, both yours and your roomies might fit on the non-window side of the room.
• Coordinate with your roommate on who is going to bring large items, like a fridge, microwave, tv, etc. You might decide that neither of you want some of these things. They can be nice and convenient, but other people have them around too.
• Depending on what you want a microwave for, an electric kettle can be just as good. (Ramen, tea, instant coffee/french press coffee/aeropress coffee) I also remember the pizzazz being kinda fun, some people would use them to bake cookies in their room. (You're not really supposed to have some of this stuff in your room, but if you don't make a racket out of it, it doesn't have to be a big deal.)
• If the rooms are the same now as they were 4 years ago, you'll have a door sized wardrobe that has a drawer at the bottom as well as half of a set of drawers for your clothes (there's only one set in the room, so it's up to you and your roomie how you utilize them).

Helser is one of the shittier dorms on campus, but you don't notice it as much after the first couple weeks. Make sure to explore your room at some point in the year. I remember people finding 'time capsules' behind some paneling...

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College Survival Guide: Things to know BEFORE coming to College

• Don’t get a huge meal plan or too many Dining Dollars. If you don’t use them up, you lose them.
• Don't park on campus between 7:00am and 5:30pm. You'll get ticketed unless you park in meter parking (which ranges between 30 mins to 2 hours)
• Time management skills are very important! Don’t get too far behind in your homework.
• As a freshman, don't go out to campustown too late on Fridays or Saturdays, unless you would like to deal with drunk people.
• Tuition rises every year, so be expecting an annual increase.
• Lanyards are not as cool as you think they are. It says "Look at me, I am a freshman"

Iowa State University Terminology:

• Business Majors - Usually looked down on by engineers due to the greater difficulty of engineering courses at Iowa State.
• Bar Fights - a marching band term for the tradition of going to the campustown bars on Friday of Homecoming week to play the fight song.
• Campanile: The bell tower located in central campus.
• Campaniling: Campaniling is an ISU tradition. A student is not an official Iowa Stater until he or she is kissed under the Campanile at midnight.
• Campustown: Strip of bars, shops, and restaurants that runs along Welch Avenue, just south of campus and Friley Hall. Extends from Hayward to Stanton.
• Central Campus: Can refer to any between Pearson and Curtis Hall
• C-Stores: Short for convenience stores, the C-Stores are located in the commons areas of the major dorm complexes on campus: Willow-Larch, Friley, and Towers.
• The Daily: Short for the Iowa State Daily, which is the campus newspaper.
• Dining Dollars: Dining Dollars are often included with a meal plan (if you get one), but they can also be purchased seperately. Dining Dollars are accessible on your ISU card and work just like cash on campus.
• Drunk Bus: Also known as the Moonlight Express, this bus offers a safe and free ride home (or to other parties) on Friday and Saturday nights 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m. when ISU classes are in session.
• Free Speech Zone: A place on campus designated for students to freely speak their minds on whatever issues they feel are important. It is located right out in front of the Hub and Parks.
• The Hub: Originally built to fulfill the University’s need for a bookstore, post office, and waiting room for the Ames and College Railway, the Hub was built in 1892. It has moved from its original location and is now located just south of Parks Library and west of Morrill Hall. The Hub now serves as a multi-purpose building for students to utilize.
• ISUCF"V"MB - Iowa State University Cyclone Football "Varsity" Marching Band
• Just Sayin - A portion of the Daily that has spread to Facebook groups and its own website. Serves as a way to call people out on stupid / funny / cool things.
• Learning Communities: Small groups of students who have similar areas of study. Usually, they have anywhere from one to three classes together and may live in the same residence hall.
• Library 160: A class that all students at Iowa State are required to take. The Library is huge, and the purpose of this class is to show students where to find everything and how to use it.
• M-Shop: Short for the Maintenance Shop, which is located in the Memorial Union.
• MU: The common abbreviation for the Memorial Union.
• Overhead at ISU: The sister of Just Sayin' - where people post snippets of conversations they heard. Usually containing sexual innuendo.
• Parks - Refers to Parks Library on campus.
• Towers: Towers is the common collective term for the dorms Wallace and Wilson, located on the far south end of campus, just behind Campustown.
• Veishea: Veishea is an acronym for the seven colleges that were part of Iowa State University in 1922: veterinary medicine, engineering, industrial science, home economics, and agriculture.

More information: collegeprowler.com

Here is a campus map a little better defined:

Iowa State Parking Map: 

Note that: these are parking spots that are reserved from 7:00am to 5:30pm ... so dont park there during those hours M-F. 

Tickets range from $10, $15, $25. I think the worst ticket I saw was $35. They add up fast. I had $100 in fines from last semester.

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College Survival Guide: The Dorm Life: Meals and Dining Halls

Meals. No more dinner time provided by ma and paps. You're on your own now. Well, not quite. Your meal plan will make things seem even better than home, giving you access to big buffets of food. This is where the freshman 15 comes into play.

There is so much food that freshmen usually overeat simply due to the appeal of all the different items offered. To avoid the 15 you need to recognize your eating habits early on and make sure you dont fall victim to overeating. It is way too easy to do it.

Next thing goes along the lines of social etiquette. It is lonesome eating all by yourself in a dining hall filled with chatter and groups of people. Unless that is what you like to do, try and find friends to eat with. Eating with a group of people is usually more fun than eating on your own. Try eating with your new roommate if it isnt too awkward. Gives you a chance to bond with them.

It is a good idea to write down the hours the dining halls are open. They usually run strict hours and once it is past them you cant get in and you're out a meal. Sometimes campus convenience stores (C-Stores) offer meals like sub sandwiches after the dining halls have closed to feed those students who missed the hours.

There isnt much else to be said about eating in the dining halls. Youre bound to run into people youve gone to high school with, people youve seen in class, girls you've smiled at and have smiled back. You all come to the same place to eat... so you might as well get used to it. Dont awkwardly pretend like you didnt see them. You both know you saw each other, and if you dont say hi, every encounter from there on will be just as awkward.Saying hi how are you never killed anyone!

Cooking on your own in the dorms is a challenge. Unless you have a fancier dorm with a community stove available, say good bye to home cooking and hello to microwave meals and leftover pizza. Some handy things to get...

• Microwave for heating meals / leftovers
• Mini-fridge for cooling drinks, perishables
• Canned foods that can be heated. Soups, veggies, etc.
• Toaster for toast, poptarts, whatever.

There isnt much else to be said. If you have any questions, post and I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

College Survival Guide Series : The Dorm Life

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College Survival Guide: The Dorm Life; Roommates

WOOO Leaving the house after 18 miserable years right?

Not quite. We take a lot of shit for granted from our parents. I did. You get to college after checking everything off on your must-have list, spending at least $400 on furniture, food, and some cheap appliances to make your little home life a little more sweet.

But it isn't sweet. Unless your roommate is Calvin Klein or Clint Eastwood. That would be badass as fuck. You could probably get a few style lessons or asskicking ones. But that's not the case. All too often we are stuck with a random roommate. We're unable to be with a friend because they are with someone else, or the hassle of switching rooms is too great. You end up with a random roommate...
Your random roommate is one of five things:

1. Normal white guy, nerdy, gamer, doesnt do much but sit infront of his PC up all night playing WoW or CoD.
2. Jock, leaves his sodded straps all over the place. Every time you see him come back he is sweating profusely. Doesn't matter where he was, whatever he was doing, he was going all out. He will probably bang more girls in one weekend than you will all of college. But look at the brightside, at least you wont have a bastard child before graduation.
3. The Creep, even worse than a normal white guy. He is the bane of antisocial. You havent had a legitimate conversation with him and you're already a month into school. It wont get much better. In fact , it will get much worse when you walk in on him wacking it to his BDSM porno. Sorry, you're just out of luck here.
4. The Black guy - This can go both ways. There are plenty of great black guys out there. Im not trying to be racist here, but you all know where Im going with this, so not much needs to be said. I'll leave it at that, if you do get a black roommate, lets hope that hes one of those great guys.
5. The Asian - Foreign exchange student ? Youre not gonna get any bonding out of this. Plain and simple, friend. That is, if they are a Fob. if not, youre ok. but a Fob... heh... yeah.

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College Survival Guide: A Series on Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, and Graduation

I am going to start a new series of posts in regards to surviving college from a young male's aspect. I will try to cover multiple topics every week.

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