Dolls at College

[amandajg]

I didn't have any dolls with me my first year because I lived in a dorm and was worried about their safety. My 2nd-4th years I lived in an apartment on my own, so I always had a doll or two with me. I still think they're safest at home, so the ones I'm most attached to (my pre-Mattels from childhood) stay at home with my parents while my newer AGs, Kit and Annora, stay here with me! I would highly recommend you keep safety in mind if you bring your girls to the dorm. have someplace safe to store them if a lot of people come over for a party. also make sure your roommate(s) will be ok with them. The fact that a lot of people leave their doorm doors open to anyone passing through the hallway isn't exactly ideal if someone leaves your dorm door open to passers-by while you're gone. Other than that I'd highly recommend having at leadt one girl with you at all times. [img]wink.gif[/img] as for my friends, they've all accepted it. as someone else said, everyone's much more accepting of individuality and personal differences in college so none of your friends should have a problem with it. Most have my friends have been interested in them, and my boyfriend in particular seems to think they're pretty cool! In fact, he actually *requested* that I bring some more here next time I go home so he can see more of the dolls! We were watching Chronicles of Narnia last night and I explained Emily to him (the first scene of the movie reminded me of her) and told him he'd be meeting her in a few months. [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ May 02, 2006 12:48 PM: Message edited by: * amanda ]</font>

[Avione]

I didn't have an American Girl doll until halfway through my freshman year of college. I had a private dorm room and I liked Joanie keeping me company. [img]smile.gif[/img] I was totally paranoid about someone stealing her, however, and always locked my door. The first couple of weeks I had her I was still terrified that someone would break in and steal her (I think because she was my first AG and I had NEVER bought something as expensive as she was). One of my friends had a laptop stolen out of her room which she was sure she locked, so it was kind of scary. Better safe than sorry.

Freshman year was the only time my current friends saw Joanie. None of them have seen Felicity yet. One girl thought that Joanie was sweet and asked to hold her. Another admitted to being a little freaked out by dolls, but decided that a doll with freckles (Joanie is an AG #23)is just fine. [img]smile.gif[/img] She also said that a doll with green eyes would be okay too (so hypothetically Felicity wouldn't bother her either).

When I moved into an apartment during my sophomore year I didn't feel like I had the space for a doll, so neither of the girls were with me.

The summer after sophomore year (last summer)I got both Joanie and Felicity out, had fun changing their clothes, and got them some new things at Target and my first ever trip to an American Girl Place. I am so much happier when I have them around!

This year I have some new roommates and wanted to wait and see what my new place would be like before bringing a doll with me. Slight problem - I can't get home until Thanksgiving! AHH!

I miss my dolls. [img]redface.gif[/img]

[katherinecusick]

Hi Colleen,

I didn't have an AG doll back in college, although I certainly wish I'd indulged in one way back then since she'd be a PM and that would be cool!

But, I did bring my Madame Alexander dolls with me to my dorm room my junior and senior years. I was homesick pretty much the entire first 2 years at college and finally decided that maybe having my dolls would help me feel more at home. So, I brought a rotating group of 5 - 6 dolls with me each semester for the last two years at school. I wish I'd brought them sooner because having the dolls at school totally helped me through some rough moments. Everyone was cool about the dolls, but I also had a single so I wasn't infringing on anyone else's idea of dorm decor!

I would most certainly take a doll or two with you to school--if I had to go back and do college again I would have taken mine from freshman year on. It was fun to rotate the dolls too. Then I felt like each one had a turn and I got to enjoy seeing all of them over a period of time.

One cautionary word through--I did end up expanding my collection while at school because there were several good toy stores within walking distance of my campus and they sold MA's there, so just be prepared for temptation. I'm sure if I'd brought an AG to school with me, the delight of getting a package at school would have been irrestible!

HTH,

Katie