Peking University, May 30, 2013: The per capita living space in dormitories for Peking University undergraduates is “only 3.1 square meters,” but “living in a place not that comfortable could make students more adaptable when they experience rise and down in their future life,” wrote a PKU administrator on People’s Daily.

Living in dormitories could be viewed as being put through the mill. Dormitories are usually not as comfortable, sometimes with only shared bathrooms and toilets.

However, Liu Deying, deputy director of the PKU Office of Student Affairs, believed that student dormitories could be a platform to learn and to make progress, according to the article published on May 28.

A glimpse at a Peking University student dorm (File photo)

Peking University would arrange the dormitory based on factors including where the student came from, Liu wrote. As for Chinese students who were the only child in their family, dormitory was an important place to learn how to get along with people and deal with differences. That was a significant lesson.

Dormitory experience is an important part of one’s campus life. At most universities in China, undergraduate students are asked to live in student dormitories.

Lives in a dormitory could be the sweetest memory for many college graduates. In one’s social life, a roommate might be the first one the first-year student got to know at their first step into university. For most people, roommates in college years became close friends after graduation.

In the dormitories, it is inevitable for those youngsters to influence and be influenced by each other. In one’s character-forming years, the influence from the dormitory environment could be surprisingly deep. “One’s ’positive energy’ could affect the others, bringing the whole place a positive atmosphere. At Peking University, it is normal that roommates in one dormitory all perform well in academic study; they went to library together and discussed enlightening topics with each other,” wrote Liu, also an associate professor at the university.

Living in a dormitory might be lots of fun for students who seek independence from parents. It also might be lots of fear for students who are not good at getting along with others. Naturally there will be quarrels or even conflicts sometimes. But students should also learn how to deal with unharmonious interlude. “The university should also play a role in actively guiding them through crises and loosening tensions,” Liu wrote.

Written by: Wu Cuiting
Edited by: Jacques
Source: People's Daily