Colleges must think we enjoy living in tight spaces. The moment you realize you can feel your roommate’s breath right next to you, then you know your living space is a perfect fit. The college experience must be fun when you realize the moment you are getting out of bed that you have to jump over your roommate to get to the bathroom. As a college student, I am more than aware that colleges want money. If the housing offices on all these campus’ can maximize their spaces to fit as many people in crowded areas, they will still get money. Students will still attend their university regardless. College students need housing and they are almost willing to take anything as long as it is convenient to campus and their parents are paying for it. With that said, there is a valid argument to me made that college housing should prioritize the quality of the college experience for students as opposed to financial intake.
Most incoming freshman are not aware of their living spaces before they move in.
As an incoming freshman, you aren’t really aware what your living space is going to be like. You might have seen some pictures on online virtual tours of the residential halls, but you don’t know much more.
You think it is normal to sleep in a tiny room with two other girls.
You don’t think nothing of it other than this is the college experience.
You forget about how expensive it is to live in this tiny space.
You forget how expensive this tiny space is because most of the time parents or the college is paying for you to live there.
Many students aren't aware of what their living space was like the year before.
Many students aren’t aware that the cramped up rooms they are in with two or three other people were originally rooms for only two people. They accept their small space as a given and move on.
What about college lounges?
Many students aren’t aware that the lounges their living spaces once had were removed and converted to rooms for four students to live in.
Shouldn't colleges want to put money towards creating more available housing?
But why are residential spaces throwing so many people together in tight quarters instead of creating more housing or perhaps decreasing the price for living?
Universities should not admit more students than average for a year and spend that time building housing.
Why aren’t universities, with little to no available housing for all their students, taking a few years to built more housing to suit more students in future year?
Think about the quality of life.
Would you rather have happy college students or sad ones? Why do they rush into admitting more students when they aren’t aware of the quality of living for all these students?
Think about what happens within these living spaces.
The housing office isn't entirely aware of how roommates treat each other. They view students as bodies filling rooms.
Housing forgets about:
The girl drama the RAs will have to handle in the middle of the night, the hostility that can happen within these spaces and the varying personalities and study habits within these spaces.
No one's living space is perfect, but...
No one will have an ideal living environment, but the governing board of the university disregards this, as the university is still aware that people will still want to attend their school regardless of the living environment.
Even though roommates and tight living spaces are part of the college experience, don't forget that you have a voice and you can help fix the college housing crisis. You can email an admin; you can join student government and place your concerns and what a better way to start than in your own college?
