Living at school is an amazing experience, and I really love it. With this being said, it is not for everyone. If you have the opportunity to try living at school, I think you should take it because you learn a lot about yourself while living alone. After living on campus for one semester, I have come up with a list of the pros and cons.
The pros include:
1. Having your own freedom
Once you live away at school, you have to start making rules for yourself. You no longer live under your parent's roof while you are at school so things are a lot different than what you are used to.
2. You get the 'college experience'
Living at home and commuting to school is a completely different experience compared to living at school. While living at school, you learn how to be independent and also make memories with your new friends at school. Living at school gives you many great experiences and opportunities. Commuting to college is different because you are only there for a set number of hours each day when you have classes.
3. Making friends is easier
It is very easy to make friends at school because there are so many different people that live on your floor and in your residence hall. I have realized that people in college are a lot more friendly and outgoing than people in high school so it is super easy to make new friends.
4. There is always something to do
Whether it is watching a movie, hanging out, or listening to music there is always something to do. People are always willing to hang out and go off and do things. Of course, homework and studying come first, but once everyone is done with homework and studying there are plenty of things to do.
5. Your friends are literally right down the hall
It is really cool living so close to your friends. In high school, my friends in my town all lived under 10 minutes away from me, but at school, it is a 30-second walk to my friend's rooms.
6. You can roll out of bed and go straight to class
Living at school is convenient because I can literally wake up 10 minutes before class and I will still make it on time. Being close to all of my classes is convenient and makes everything easy. You never have to worry about being stuck in traffic and you never have to wake up super early to get to class.
7. You can walk to Dunkin' Donuts
For a lot of people, it really stinks not having a car on campus to go get coffee and other breakfast foods. Luckily for students at Regis, there is a Dunkin' Donuts in the library so we do not even have to leave campus to get a coffee. This is super convenient if you need coffee before class because it is pretty much in the middle of campus.
The cons include:
1. You are stuck with dining hall food
When you live away at school, there are no more home cooked meals from your parents. You are stuck with whatever is in the dining hall each day. For most people, you have to find something in the dining hall that you like and stick to it for the semester. Luckily some schools have kitchens so you are able to make things for yourself if you hate the dining hall food.
2. If one person gets sick, you all get sick
When you live away at school you are crammed into a small room and you share many things with the people in your residence hall. If someone ends up sick, there is a good chance that everyone else will soon become sick as well. Cleaning supplies quickly become a must when you live at school.
3. People are not always courteous of quiet hours
When quiet hours go into effect, people will not always respect them, which is something that is so annoying. For some of us, we get stuck with neighbors who are very loud which makes it hard to sleep at night and also hard to focus on homework and studying. If you have neighbors that are like this, the library soon will become your best friend for studying and homework and Melatonin is a must when it comes to going to bed at night.
5. You have to figure a lot of things out on your own
Since you are likely living on your own for the first time, there are many things that you need to figure out for yourself. Luckily I knew how to do laundry, but some people at school didn't and that was something that they had to figure out on their own. In college there is no one who will hold your hand and walk you through everything, you are on your own.
6. Living at school can be very expensive
It is no secret that college is extremely expensive. If you want to live at school, you must pay room and board on top of your tuition. Coming out of school in hundreds of dollars in debt is not good which is why it is important that people understand they don't have to live away at school. Living away at school is a great experience, but if you can not afford it, it is not the end of the world.
7. Communal bathrooms are not always the greatest
When you live away at school, you have to share a bathroom with the people on your floor. For many people (myself included) this is an extremely eye-opening experience. You will quickly see that people don't have the best hygiene and don't clean up after themselves. This can be very gross, but it makes you appreciate what you have at home a lot more.
