Sarah Price "Dorm Life as Habitus"

If my dorm room is my habitat, then the way that I live in my dorm is habitus. The community that lives in my building has created its own culture, in a way. There are certain group that have formed, certain places that we go to hang out, different places we go to study. There is a certain way to live and behave in a dormitory that doesn’t occur anywhere else and doesn’t happen at any other time in our lives. We leave our doors open, people are always around to talk to, someone is always making food, someone is always napping, someone is always having a late night heart-to-heart, someone is always in the study room, someone is always playing acoustic guitar, someone is always making out with their boyfriend, someone is always playing Call of Duty, etc. It started as a communitas, which turned into a community, and has become this habitus that is so unique to college. Dorm life is something that can only happen at a certain time in our lives, and I am so thankful for it! Some people had a hard time adjusting to it, but soon it became this ritualized way of dwelling together that I will always look back on with good memories.