Olivery Ni | Staff Illustrator

Whether you’ve just met your suitemates this semester or you’ve known them since your first year of college but never actually lived together, sharing a space can have its ups and downs, to say the least. There’s something weirdly personal about brushing your teeth next to someone while half-asleep, or entering the bathroom in the morning and seeing your suitemate, unsure whether you’re supposed to say “good morning,” so you just settle for an awkward smile.

Living with other people can be many things — it can be the best part of college, or it can feel like a social experiment where you’re constantly being rage-baited. Regardless, you don’t have to feel like you’re living with a bunch of strangers. Whether you’re bonding with your suitemates for the first time or trying to procrastinate on your next assignment, here are five fun activities to do together. 

Decorate your shared space

The key to spending time with your suitemates is not returning to a common area that looks like a barren prison cell. Decide if you want to stick to a theme, and spend a weekend or two shopping for some decorations. Bonus points if you spend time together making something handmade — painted canvases, inside-joke signs, door art, etc. My suitemates procrastinated on decorating our dorm because we dreaded shopping for things that were both cute and affordable. We ended up printing out funny memes and television characters that reminded us of each other, and whenever we think of a new one, we print it out at the Olin Library and tape it on each other’s doors. It’ll make your common area actually feel like home (and might even motivate you to spend more time there)!

PowerPoint night

Put your laptops to use, and host a PowerPoint night! Everyone makes a PowerPoint on a random topic and presents it to the suite with a professional TED Talk-like confidence. Topics can range from “Disney men I wouldn’t let hold my drink” to “Who we’d be in the Hunger Games.” You’ll laugh until someone reveals a little too much about their dating history, and that’s when the real bonding happens.

Bake night

Nothing brings a suite together like bonding through the chaos of trying to bake in a dorm kitchen. Gather your suitemates, grab whatever ingredients you have, and try to make something edible! For an added challenge, try to only bake with whatever ingredients you already have or can find at Paws & Go. Just a reminder, though: keep an eye on your oven! The last thing you want to do is add to the long list of late-night fire alarms on the South 40. 

Suite bingo

This one’s a fun twist on your traditional bucket list, and it is especially perfect if it’s the beginning of the year. Spend some time filling out an empty bingo card with your own personal predictions for the school year, like “[insert name] accidentally sleeps through an exam” or “another power outage on the South 40.” Whoever fills a row first gets bragging rights or doesn’t have to take out the trash that week.

Movie night

Yes, it’s basic, but it’s basic for a reason. St. Louis weather is unpredictable, and it’s practically guaranteed that you’ll have many nights hunkered down in your rooms. Pick a fun theme (rom-coms, comfort movies, movies with really long titles) and settle in with some snacks and a blanket. Or keep things productive by working on upcoming homework assignments while a movie runs in the background. 

At the end of the day, living with suitemates means turning shared spaces into shared memories, so you might as well make them good memories. Whether you’re laughing over burnt brownies, debating which Shrek movie is the best one (it’s Shrek 2, by the way), or relaxing with a movie night, you might find that the best part of college isn’t the classes or the food trucks, but the people you get to share it all with.