Deciding where to live while in college can be stressful. Sometimes there’s an obvious choice, but generally, there’s a long list of pros and cons, and a dismaying amount of uncertainty over what will be left to choose from. When my roommate scored #2 for the sophomore class in the Kenyon housing lottery, it opened a set of doors that we hadn’t even considered beforehand—and that’s how we ended up in what we call our “little apartment in the woods.”
In case you’re unfamiliar with housing at Kenyon College, here’s a brief overview: there is no off-campus housing, since there’s virtually nothing in the immediate vicinity. All first-year students live in dorms about a ten-minute walk from most academic buildings, which lie to the South. For upperclassmen, there are dorms and a few apartments on the South end of campus, and on the North end, a residence hall (and the tallest building in Knox County), a large cluster of North Campus Apartments, and, at the very farthest end, somewhat hidden in the trees, the “New Apartments,” which were in fact new 25 years ago. Not so much anymore.
With my roommate’s big score, we knew that we were pretty much guaranteed to get the pick of what was left after older students had selected their housing. Initially we’d been considering one of the smaller residence halls on the South end, for the sake of convenience and a decently quiet atmosphere. But then we noticed a few remaining New Apartments. I was reluctant simply on account of the commute, as well as the bad reputation they had for bugs, the lack of decent lighting, and the old carpet on all of the floors. However, after much discussion, she finally convinced me to go in on one, along with two of our other friends—and I’m so glad she did.
I love the lifestyle of living in an apartment rather than a dorm. One of my fears was that by not being in a communal living space, I would close myself off and hardly talk to anyone other than the people I lived with. But quite on the contrary, I feel so much more confident asking people to come over because we have a small-but-workable common space. I was also nervous about the long commute, but honestly, it hasn’t been too bad. I do a little more strategizing as to when I’m going to go home versus just stay on the south side of campus, but to be honest, the walk is kind of nice sometimes. Plus we absolutely lucked out on the floors—we didn’t know about it until we moved in, but they replaced the old carpet with new hard floors, so while the lighting isn’t the greatest, the natural color palette, our subtle elephant decorating motif, and the charming view of the trees through the common room window makes it quite tranquil.
There are a lot of joys of apartment life that you simply would not get living in a traditional residence hall. For example, a sink. Having a sink is honestly life-changing. I don’t have to arrange a trip to do my dishes in the bathroom sink, all the way down the hall. I also love having our own bathroom, and a stove. I love cooking, and really missed it last year when my dorm didn’t have a kitchen, plus when the single dining hall doesn’t serve any hot gluten-free vegetarian food (which happens at least a few times a week) I love having the ability to cook myself some real food instead of resigning myself to a can of soup.
It’s also great to have space. I lucked out with a pretty spacious dorm room last year, but still, being able to store things like food and toiletries somewhere other than my bedroom is nice. And since we have a chair, couch and coffee table in the common area, I have a readily-accessible study space, so my bedroom is just a bedroom, and it’s easier to separate work and rest.
There’s never an objective right or wrong answer when it comes to what housing is best. There are generally pros and cons on either side, and ultimately the decision comes down to the individual, with a little luck thrown in. But for my two cents, I highly recommend the apartment lifestyle. Even though we’re still under supervision as long as we’re on campus, there’s a great deal more freedom and autonomy that you get in an apartment rather than a dorm. The walk is long, and we’ve had our share of large spiders, but it’s still a choice I would make again in a heartbeat.