You are super excited to be out on your own, with no parents and no RAs. Sounds great, right?
Having your own space is great in theory. But when reality starts to take hold, you realize maybe you aren't quite ready to be totally independent. My first month living in an apartment has me questioning my ability to ever be a real functioning adult. I don't know how to cook, I'm not fond of cleaning, and I call my mom at least five times every day to get advice on how to live.
Living off campus and independent from university rules and faculty is great. Being able to have a glass of wine with dinner and not having to hide from your RA is great. But do the benefits outweigh the costs? Here is a breakdown of some of the pros and cons.
YOUR OWN SPACE
Pros: You have a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom that 40 people don't share. If you're lucky, you might even have a front porch. It is great having your own space and being able to lay on your own couch and watch TV with just your roommates rather than 50 of your floor mates crowding around a small communal TV. It's also nice not having to wait in line for your favorite shower to be open - the one that actually has decent water pressure and almost hot water.
Cons: You have to clean your kitchen, living room and bathroom. Although having these spaces are great, you now have to clean them. This simple process usually causes more issues than it should. One roommate feels that she takes the trash out all the time, another thinks she's the only one who ever does the dishes. Everyone feels like they are doing more work than the other roommates but, really, you are all probably doing the same amount of cleaning.
FOOD
Pros: No more dorm food! You are no longer restricted to the dining places on your meal plan. And it's great! The University finally is no longer ripping you off by making you spend a $5 block on a bag of chips that's only worth 50 cents. You feel super grown up because now you get to use your never-cleaned kitchen and cook your own food!
Cons: Cooking is really hard, I don't care who you are. Who has time to cook a real meal in college? All you ever have time to cook is macaroni and cheese and popcorn. Pasta and beer might sound like a balanced diet, but that's not a good way to live.
FRIENDS
Pros: You get to have a permanent sleepover with your friends. Bonus points if you have your own room and you don't have to constantly be with someone; living with roommates can still be great because you are constantly surrounded by your friends. This only gets tricky when roommates have conflict, but most roommates are close enough to call each other out when they are doing something bothersome, so roommate drama should be easily avoided.
Cons: You are only living with a small number of your friends. Living in an off campus house or apartment is much more lonely than living in a dorm or Greek house. In dorms and Greek houses, you have so many options of who to hang out with. You don't have to make an effort to go see someone, like you do when you live off campus. The thing I miss the most about living in a dorm is being able to walk down the hallway and finding a huge number of friends.
Living off campus is a learning experience, and everyone should have the pleasure of going through it at least once. It's great practice for life after college, and even though you might feel totally helpless at times, at the end of the year, you will realize that you're a better and more independent person for sticking it out.
