Unhappy at Notre Dame

shellzie2006
Tue, 28 Feb 2012 04:05:17 +0000

I second what princetongirl said. I have heard it’s tough to transfer, but it sounds like you have a legitimate complaint with your roommates and if you are persistent enough, I think they should be able to do something about it. If nothing else, if you can make it through the end of the semester, I really doubt your new roommate/s would be as bad as your current ones, unless Notre Dame has really changed in the 2 years since I graduated.

In my 4 years at Notre Dame, while I saw plenty of drinking, I never witnessed any peer pressure to drink to the extent you have described and I never even saw anyone smoking pot. So the good news is, if you can get away from this bad bunch, you will most likely find much more accepting people. Also, while I know the drinking culture is pretty prominent at ND, there are plenty of people out there who don’t drink or do drugs and there are certainly people who drink much more responsibly and who would never pressure others to drink if they didn’t want to.

Also keep in mind that you will likely run into some heavy partiers wherever you go to school. And at many schools, it is even worse- so be careful with your decision if you do decide to transfer to another school. I think at any school, the biggest thing is finding a group of like-minded people. And, as I said, the vast majority of the people I knew at ND were nothing like you described, so I think there is a good chance things can turn around for you soon. If you are struggling with how to meet people, I would look into getting involved with some clubs, dorm activities, or volunteer work if you haven’t already. I know that sounds kind of cliched, but there are a lot of good groups you could look into that you can definitely jump into even in the middle of the year (dorm choir, volunteering, cultural clubs, etc) and it would give you a chance to meet more people with similar interests outside of the dorm and/or drinking setting.