The time has finally come, you’re a junior and you’re moving off campus. You are thinking: “No more RAs.” “No more dining hall food.” “What could possibly go wrong?” Being off campus is awesome but my short time off campus has already made me realize that one should never take the dorm-life for granted. Here are just a few things that I’ve noticed so far:
1. Now that I live in an apartment building, not only do I have a fear of getting locked in the trash room but also this fear has expanded to an intense terror of the trash shoot. I’ve never experienced anything so final in my life. When I throw out my trash nine floors down, it’s forever. THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO GOING BACK!
2. People STILL have to be signed in! Walsh flashback, anyone?
3. You have to cook. Okay don’t get me wrong here, I love to cook! But coming home at 9pm from my Cosmos class, I’m starving and wish that food would magically cook itself! There’s no more stopping by Late Night to quell my rumbling stomach. Now living off campus, I actually have to think of something to make and then prepare it…sometimes in advance. For example, on several occasions my roommate and I have hovered around the rice, salivating, and waiting for it to be ready.
4. When was the last time you had to buy furniture? For me, it was last week. I drove all over Boston for four days trying to get everything I needed before school started. Also, a lot of furniture stores taunt you with the prospect of a perfect couch until you find out that couch you love is on backorder for 2 months! One cannot simply live without a couch. So you must look elsewhere. You may or may not have to find a way to assemble a couch. Bottom line, finding furniture and assembling furniture IS NOT FUN.
Of course reality hit hard when I moved off campus but obviously in the real world, with some downs there are always ups. Off campus is not some scary abyss outside the comforts of the firm brick dorms of BC. There even just a few simple things that I would not have been able to experience or begin to appreciate if I spent my junior year in the dorms.
1. Although sometimes having to cook can be a bit annoying, it can sometimes be really great! I get the opportunity to go out to Trader Joe’s, choose the organic, healthy ingredients I want, and cook what I want. Often, my roommate and I have friends over for dinner, which is a really nice change from last year.
2. I’ll admit, I grew to love having a direct roommate but having my own room is pretty nice. One of the perks of living off campus, is you can opt to have your own room. To me that means I no longer feel guilty for being disorganized and I don’t need to get dressed in the dark (in an effort not to wakeup my roommate for my 9am class).
3. Walking home from class has to be one of the nicest parts of my day. I get to unwind, listen to music, enjoy how beautiful Chestnut Hill is, and think about my day.
4. Fin’s delivers to your door. That’s right, no more rushing outside in pajamas (no judgment) and no more awkwardly loitering in front of your dorm in 20-degree weather trying to spot the delivery guy. And even if I want to actually venture out to Fin’s for dinner, Cleveland Circle is that much closer to my off-campus apartment.
At the end of the day, I still love living off campus but never take those raised beds and lack of closet space for granted because living on campus can be great. Living off-campus has introduced me to the ups and downs of the “real world”. For a college junior, I must admit that the comforts of a college dorm are occasionally missed yet the adventures of off-campus life are being embraced.
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