Advantages of Living in School Residence

“Dear mom and dad please send money. I’m so broke it ain’t funny.” (Sugarland, Baby Girl, 2004, song) Does this sound familiar? There are some advantages I have found living in residence when I left home for school. There is the meeting of new people, the transition of living without your parents, and lastly, having an experience of a lifetime.

  When I moved into residence, I was so full of different emotions. I met a ton of new people. The first thing I did was meet my roommate, which can be a weird experience because you don’t even know who they are. You also hope that you will get along with your roommate. During the first week here, they had what you would call the “icebreakers” to get people into meeting each other. Some of the events that took place were Res Survival 101, Residence Advisor meetings, and also the non-stop parties going on around you. By the end of the week, you have gotten to know your other classmates, and you find out where everyone is from.  You get to meet other people in your program, which provides you with the opportunity to study and walk to class together.  It is the “ice breakers” and the other events, that make the being away from home, your family, and friends that much easier because everyone is in the same situation as you are.

  Residence is an easy transitional place to live when living away from home. You learn different skills while living there. One major thing you will learn is managing your time and money. You find out how much time you will need to complete one assignment, which can be a lot of your spare time. It would be harder if you had to do everything alone. You also will learn how to manage money so you will not spend it all on alcohol or clothing. You will learn very fast that stuff like partying or shopping all the time will take up all of your money and also time. You will figure out that most of your money will go to food, supplies for class, and tuition. Another reason why residence makes the transition easy is that it’s very close to the school. It will always be walking distance. You will not have to worry about getting lost on the way to school, which could happen if you had to take the bus. There is a benefit of having everything right there for you. Lastly, a huge issue for some students is trying to learn how to cook and feed yourself when not at home. You may set off the fire alarm in your room a couple of times after the first 2 months. The cafeteria food gets really old, very fast, plus you tend to gain the “freshman 15”; so most people learn to make there own food. Some call it “real food”. If you are lucky, you might have awesome parents who always send up food for you. Also, they might cook it and freeze it so all you have to do it pop it in the oven for a few minutes and your set. It sure will be an experience to learn all of these skills that you might not have yet.

  Speaking of experience, you will definitely have ones you will never forget if you live in residence. First off, your going to discover so much about yourself that you never thought you would find out. You might discover that you are more independent than you thought or you might find out the opposite; that you need your parents a little longer than expected. You will learn whom you will be able to live with, that is if you have a roommate. Some people end up hating their roommates by the end of there first year, which isn’t really the greatest experience you will want to remember. Lastly, you will discover if you can make it on your own. If you can cope with schoolwork and if you can live away from home. Which is an experience that everyone will learn at some point in his or her lifetime. You will realize that dishes pill up a lot quicker then at home, but that’s because mom and dad aren’t there to pick up after you. You will start to pick up after yourself a bit more than you did at home. Of course, it will be nice not having your parents right behind you telling you want to do anymore.  This independence helps you to decide what to do on your own and trust your decisions.   It is the experience of not knowing anyone there and having to make new friends. You will eventually figure out how to balance out being with those new friends and spending time on schoolwork.  You also find out who you are as a person.

  There are a ton of reasons why you would love living in residence. I know that I love it. You will have life long memories of the different experiences you had, the becoming an adult and learning how to cope with stress and homesickness. It will be an adventure of becoming your own person, and doing it all on your own without your parents there telling you what to do all the time.