1. Even to this day, you have no problem sleeping in a room with loads of people in it
Hostels now feel strangely like home. You can sleep anywhere.
2. The knowledge that the dorms – the bed where you slept – was a hotbed of genius pranks
The fear never leaves you.
3. The tuck shop was the holy grail of all existence
And its opening hours were a source of much discussion.
4. But toast was the less glamorous staple of the dorms
Everyone ate toast. All the time.
You wouldn’t be allowed eat that much toast if your parents were around.
5. Your daily life involved queueing up for breakfast, lunch and dinner
So many queues.
6. And eating in a massive dining hall was standard practice
The politics of seating arrangements.
7. Some field/bush area was the go-to place for a shift
Grim? Oh yes.
8. The school dance was talked about for about six months before it happened
Wild speculation on something that lasted approximately three hours.
9. Communal midnight feasts were standard practice
Chocolate, crisps... toast. Anything you could get your hands on.
10. You never really understood why homework was called "prep" but now you say it too
11. Prefects were the all-seeing craic deniers of the dorms
Waiting for them to come in and stop the messing.
12. Until you or your friends became one and you could see where they were coming from
"Seriously, those first years are loud."
13. Everyone's mam had sewn their name on to their clothes to distinguish it from the pile of jumpers
14. If you were in one of the unlucky places, you know the pain of Saturday school
Saturday. In school. Really?
15. You knew the tension between the boarders and day pupils
16. But you also knew the craic that was had when you got on with "the other side"
17. And now you can look back on the dorms as some of the best times of your life
Great times.
