We students who live off-campus have a bond that students who live on-campus can't understand. Living on your own is simultaneously exciting and scary -- it's like we are actual adults! We get to cook our own food, clean our own bathrooms and pay our own bills! Yay! However, we also get the freedom that is living on your own, and that in itself is fantastic.
But, through it all, we who do live off-campus know that there are some things that we all think at some point.
1. No RA. No Problem.
Want to burn a real candle? No problem. Want to be loud past 10 pm on a weeknight? No problem.
We just have to watch out for the neighbors. And the cops.
2. Did someone say free food?
Yeah, we like to say that we can cook our own food, but who really actually wants to cook every meal every day? Or clean it up? Or spend real people money on food? We don't. So free food is essentially the selling point for any event we go to.
3. Help me, I'm poor.
If we're not paying rent or utilities, we're paying for food or gas. It seems that no matter how much we work, we never have any money. I can't count the number of times I've said how rich I would be if I didn't live off-campus. Let me tell you, I would be rich.
So when we do venture on-campus, our on-campus friends usually take pity on us because we're so poor and will sometimes buy us food. Those are the best days ever.
4. Does this school have any parking spots?
Since campus is literally like another country to us, we usually drive to classes or to places on campus. But the chances we find any parking spot is like winning the lottery.
5. Friends, come visit me!
The look that Ron Swanson has in that gif is the look I have when someone comes to visit me at my house. If I know people are coming over, it's like Christmas, so I clean the house and make sure I have the best smelling candle burning. People don't want to walk all the way to our off-campus houses, so I love it when my friends come.
Also, I bribe them sometimes with food.
At the end of the day, I love the freedom of living on my own. Sometimes, it's hard, especially when the bills start pouring in and I want to cry myself to sleep. But, on the whole, it's taught me how to be a responsible adult. I'm sure most of us off-campus students will agree that we wouldn't want to move back into the dorms.
And, moral of the story, everyone loves free food.
