My first taste of university life came in September 2002, when at the age of 18 I moved away from home and into the dorms at the University of Regina to study film production. Dorm life isn't neccessarily the easiest or most attractive way to live, but the initial experience was invaluable. I made new friends right off the bat, was within walking distance of all my new classes, and was forced to adapt quickly.
I didn't know it at the time, but for my entire university education I'd end up living in the College West dorms (with the exception of 4 summers). From the disgusting shared bathrooms to kitchens dominated by fruit flies, I suppose one the greatest lessons I learned was how to avoid others germs (there's no shame showering in sandles). By contrast, and because I probably wouldn't have been able to stand it otherwise, my dorm room quickly became a very personalized home away from home.
Compared with how ambitiously decked-out my dorm rooms became towards the end of my schooling, my first year dorm was tame. It was also a shoebox, that was only marginally bigger than the bathroom in my current apartment. After going through some of my old film school images, I thought it would be cool to post some of them. I guess I was already anticipating my own nostalgia back then becuase I shot all of these on black and white film.
My first dorm room. I still have that Abbey Road poster (now framed) and you can still see the imprints of the bricks on it from me leaning against it.
The common area. It was as hip and trendy as The Brady Bunch was . . . in 2002.
My desk. To be honest, the dated furniture didn't bother me. I was on a big fifties and sixties kick back then. Could you tell?
The kitchen. I'm pretty sure we had just had a cleaning inspection before I took this picture. There was almost never counterspace (or clean dishes for that matter).
For more, check out this video I made of the campus in 2002.