5 Reasons You Should Dorm

By Jessica Mahmoud on May 28, 2015

I live like five minutes away from my college; the distance could be walked. However, next semester I’ve decided to live on campus. Although a majority of people may think I’m crazy for doing this, there are many benefits to dorm life that have nothing to do with the distance.

Here’s my top 5 reasons I think college students should dorm.

1. Independence.

In my excitement of experiencing dorm life, I was reading my school’s FAQs and one under parents was “How often will my child’s room be cleaned?” Unless you’re from like a fancy private school, the maintenance of your room is probably up to you and any roommates you may have. This brings on a lot of independence.

Living at home, for things like cleaning, cooking, and even just an extra hand, you were probably dependent on your parents. Living on campus, or dorming rather than living at home, you are challenged to become a lot more independent, which is a great skill to learn for college and after you graduate.

2. You learn about yourself.

Whether you are fortunate to get placed in a single or not, living on campus, you’ll always be around other students, even if it is your hall mates. As a result, a lot of your privacy goes out the window. This may sound scary, but it’s a great opportunity for you to learn about yourself.

It can teach you what you thought you were private about, but really you’re okay with sharing, like getting dressed in front of other people or showing others your old photographs. The time spent with other students also leaves a lot of time for conversation which can help you relate to other people’s stories and lives outside of college.

3. Make new friends.

A lot of the complaints I’ve heard about being a commuter student is that it’s hard to make friends. While I don’t really agree with this, I certainly believe it’s easier to make friends if you live on campus. Dorming gives you automatic friends, or at least potential friends because you’re surrounded by other students all the time. This includes your roommate(s) of course, who hopefully you get along with.

With all this said, you’ll still have to make an effort to form these bonds with other residents. But after that, it’s easy to get together with them because they live right on campus, or not. If you befriend commuters, you can always invite them back to your house, also known as your dorm room.

4. You can get involved.

The picture above is a bonfire that was in the middle of the quad at my school. While I’ve always been the person to stay on campus and partake in events, a lot of commuters come for their classes and go home. A great thing about living on campus is that you never need to worry about having to get home, because that’s where you live.

This lets you go to things like club meetings, bonfires, performances, and everything else. Living on campus also lets you not have a curfew so you can finally go to that 11 p.m. improv show or things that are late at night.

5. Get the full college experience.

One of the other popular reasons people suggest about dorming in college is to get the full college experience. Dorm life and college often go together, so if possible you should definitely try it while you can. It’s the time where everyone around is doing the same thing and you are all together just trying to get an education. We’re all still young and are able to bond in the struggle and help each other out without any nagging parents or annoying siblings down our backs.

Despite my close location of my school, I’m dorming next semester. What are your views on dorm life? Let me know in the comments!

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