Dorm life has plenty of perks for incoming freshmen: involvement in campus activities, making new friends and perhaps even meeting your first college significant other.

Living in such close proximity to your neighbors isn’t all fun and games, though.

Sometimes it results in having to hear some intimate details of your neighbors’ lives.

New freshmen spend their first year in freshman-only dorms discovering, if not relishing in, many brand new experiences and adult responsibilities.

“First year halls like Barto and the Bassetties [usually] have noisier students,” senior Chloe Hildeman, RHA executive board president and current dorm-dweller said.

Noise complaints of the “sexytime” nature are actually not a common occurrence, even if it is Valentine’s Day, Hildeman said.

However, excess noise is more likely to happen among new students who may not be aware of or sensitive to dorm rules.

Hildeman said that loud, passionate moments do happen, but they are not as prevalent as students may think.

“One morning I awoke early – around 7 a.m. – to the sound of my neighbor and his girlfriend,” Hildeman said.

She didn’t need to say more.

While sexy shenanigans may go unreported to RAs, everyone seems to have an awkward story from their first year of college.

A sophomore, who wished to remain anonymous, remembered her first year in the dorms.

“I could hear very loud sex from a room that wasn’t even my neighbor,” the source said. “They were across the hall and down several rooms and I could still hear it in detail.”

These types of stories seem to be common, but freshmen dorms aren’t alone in this issue.

Another sophomore who also asked to remain anonymous said their roommate took a shower with her boyfriend ­— in the shared shower.

“I could hear everything,” the source said.

While not uncommon, stories of loud sex in shared spaces are rarely reported. Instead, students tend to brush it off.

“Loud disturbances are definitely more prevalent in the freshmen dorms; upperclassmen tend to be more mellow and quiet,” Hildeman said.

Hildeman, senior public relations major, has lived on campus her entire college career because of her RA responsibilities.

Hildeman attempts to settle noise complaints with students before anything else.

“If I have to get involved in a noise-related issue, I first talk to the students to resolve it,” Hildeman said.

She noted that sometimes confronting the noise-makers involved can be awkward, but she has gotten used to it.

Dorms’ quiet time is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., which students usually respect. Weekends and holidays are also quieter in the dorms.

“The reasons that students don’t follow quiet-time hours are probably due to lack of respect” Hildeman said. “[They have] hardly any regard for others’ space.”

This may be because most incoming freshmen are still teenagers, straight out of high school.

Hildeman said resident assistants want dorm living to be comfortable for everyone and a good college experience. She also stressed the importance of having open communication with RAs if there are any issues, including noise.

“See a staff member first,” Hildeman said. “The staff here is all trained and can mediate a situation, if needed.”

For Hildeman, having a roommate in the dorms is a lot of fun should it work out, but sharing such close quarters can mean that students’ routines can easily conflict with one another.

If a conflict arises, RHA has a procedure to quickly resolve it.

“All issues start with either a verbal warning or a discussion with the student,” Hildeman said.

A warning is given, followed by a conduct hearing and potential community service.

Should issues fail to be resolved with a warning, RHA can also do room transfers. Although a rare solution, they strive to have every student feel comfortable and, most importantly, safe.

“Room transfers are a last resort,” Hildeman said. “We don’t want [that] to happen.”