When I was accepted into WashU, it was like all the worries about my future went away — until the housing application came out. Months of ghosting classmates on the WashU 2026 Instagram page and a heads-up from a friend to sign up as soon as possible led to me dreading the process. It was hard to understand how people found connections so easily with DMs when my conversation starter question was “Why did you choose WashU?” After finally filling out the application and waiting for assignments to come out, that question was soon replaced with “Who the heck is going to be my roommate?” Turns out it was me, myself, and I. 

When I found out I was going to live in Beaumont 306, I began a doom scroll that left me feeling more dread than before. The summarization of all the dorm ranking websites, subreddits, and YouTube videos was that Beaumont sucks. As I was going into the rabbit hole, there were not many pictures that definitively showed my future living situation. At least, not any pictures inside my dorm room. All I could gather was that there were communal bathrooms (ew, I know), that there might be a cockroach problem (double ew), and that any existing pictures I found made the dorm seem like a sad relic. Very reassuring for any future Beaumont residents. 

When move-in day rolled around, I had no idea what to expect. As I got out of the car and walked into Beau, I was greeted by the fact Beau has no elevators. As if my troubles could not get worse — I lived on the third floor — I felt sorry for the moving crew. 

My sentiments changed, however, when I opened the door to my new home-away-from-home. I saw that there was no second bed and later learned that I was in a so-called “tringle.” For Beaumont novices who might not know, due to the pandemic, all rooms in Beaumont were converted into singles. This led to “dingles,” rooms meant for two people but occupied by one, and “tringles,” rooms meant for three people but occupied by one. After this discovery, I realized that I had actually won the dorm lottery. Despite the walk up the stairs, the communal bathrooms, a door battery that wouldn’t stop dying, and a carpet tile that never failed to trip me in the morning, I loved living in Beaumont. There was lots of room space, with three closets and 12 drawers, and I was able to have time to myself and recharge for the day. 

But don’t fall into the trap of solitude when living in Beau. The biggest perk of Beaumont for me was that living alone forced me to be social and make friends. When you live with a roommate, sometimes you can hold onto them like they are a floatation device and depend on them for connections. On the contrary, when you live by yourself, it is really up to you to go out there and make friends. Being in a single also meant I was able to be a dependable host since I did not have a roommate, and movie nights with a projector became a regular event. Movie nights can create messes, and so can getting dressed in the morning, with clothes flying everywhere. Even with clutter, I didn’t have a roommate passive-aggressively telling me to get my room together.

Beau is what you make it. Take advantage of being able to be more independent and make it your space to be productive, to recharge, and to thrive. I loved having my own space to decorate with treasures that I collected over the school year. It made it feel more like home, so much to the point where I would call my dorm “home” with a slip of the tongue. What started as dreading to live in Beau ended in dreading to leave. While I know that anyone who is living in Lee or Beau this upcoming school year is probably already nervous to start this new chapter of their lives, know that it will get easier. It will take time to adjust, but I promise, it is nothing a good pair of shower shoes and some blue painters tape for your favorite posters can’t fix