I’m a 6’1” female. Suffice to say, dorm rooms are not an easy monster for me to tackle. I hit my shins, everything is small and cramped and I feel like I can’t find a way to get my head wet in the shower. In case your dorm room also has you feeling like Godzilla, here are some tips to help you deal with being tall in the dorms.
1. Pick a short roommate
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Sadly you can’t just tell housing that you need a short roommate who’s clean and won’t stay up until 3 A.M. watching television. But you can control which of your friends you live with. If you have more than one person in mind, go for the short one. This works well because the short one gets lower storage and the tall one gets higher storage. Your roommate avoids pulling out a chair every time they need their coffee mug, and you don’t have to crawl on your hands and knees to retrieve your stapler.
2. Embrace aerobics and stretching
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There’s no getting around the fact that you will have to bend for stuff, lean over and stretch to see yourself in mirrors. You might as well keep in shape: squats are your new best friend. Do them in the shower so you’re short enough for the showerhead, while you’re doing your makeup so you can see your face in the mirror and to get your clothes out of the bottom drawer of your dresser. Get creative and throw some twerking in there, just make your height work for you.
3. Invest in a handheld shower head
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Showers in dorms are impossible for tall people and no one dares use that one tub in the dorm bathroom. As if you would fit in it anyway. Squatting in the shower may not tickle your fancy, so if the dorms permit a swap out, a handheld showerhead can allow you to shower without calisthenics.
4. Buy a full length mirror for your door
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Chances are you’ve never seen your head in a dorm mirror, though you know what your shoulders look like in every shirt you own. If your school doesn’t already supply one, a full-length mirror on the back of your door is a must. Normally these mirrors help you see your whole body at once, but your goal is solely to look your reflection in the eye at long last.
5. Buy padding for your dorm desk
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You will hit your knees on your desk. You will hit them on the sides of the desk. You will probably not have enough room for your legs under the desk. However, you can buy soft foam padding and use it to protect your knees. Remember the padding used on school buses to keep little kids from getting concussions? Same idea. Even though your knees can’t get a concussion, protect them.
6. Spring for bed risers, or take the bottom bunk
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Depending on your dorm situation, you will either have a single bed or a bunk bed. If you have the option, go for the single. You can put bed risers on it so, rather than you falling to your death every time you lie down, your bed will come to you. If a single isn’t an option, take the bottom bunk. When you are able to sit up in your bed rather than hit your head on the ceiling, you’ll be a much happier and healthier student.
Even if it seems impossible now, being tall in the dorms is manageable. So don’t give up if you constantly hit your shins or your feet hang off the bed. If you can life hack your way through being tall, there’s no telling what you’ll be able to do in the future.
