After graduating from high school, young adults are faced with many tough decisions. Some students decide to join the military, others get jobs. Most students, however, either go to community colleges, or go away to a college or university. Here are four reasons why I'm glad that I went away to college.

1. Living on your own

Living on your own is one of the largest steps involved in the transition from high school to college. Most students go from living with their families and going to a school that is only a few minutes away, to living in dorms. In the dorms, there are no parents to tell students to make their bed or do their dishes. Doing laundry is another skill that most students learn in college if they do not already know how to.

2. The Dorms

The dorms themselves are also another unique opportunity that students can only be provided with if they go away to college. Dorms are a wonderful opportunity for students to live with peers, often sharing bathrooms and living space with 15 or more students will cause people to argue. People have disagreements, and not everyone is going to get along. Living in dorms helps students to learn how to live with people whom they get along with very well and are close friends with, as well as students who they do not get along with.

3. Activities on Campus

Living on campus helps make attending activities on campus much easier. Students do not have to worry about driving home late at night if an activity runs late. Most of the activities are within walking distance. Also, students do not have to worry about wondering whether or not they are going to have enough time to stop at home between activities and classes because home is within walking distance. Showers and beds are all easy access to residential students, but when students commute, it is more difficult to get to these amenities.

4. Learning to Work with a Small Living Space

Dormitories are notorious for being small. When moving into a dorm, students have to carefully manage their space so that everything can fit in their dorm. Everything that a student brings with them to college has to fit in one or two cars. It is often difficult to decide what is necessary to bring with to college and what should be left at home. Students have to learn how to use space effectively in order to make their dorm room feel like home. No one wants to lived in a crammed dorm room where there is hardly even space to sit down.