College, as you must have heard a million times by now, can be the chance to test out the experience of being an adult. Some people try to stay close to home, choosing to take baby steps in their journey towards independence. Other people choose to get as far away from home as is possible. College gives emerging adults the chance to create new social circles and to try to figure out just what it takes to get by without the parents to rely on. This is the story of a single student’s current path towards the working world.
On a college campus with a significant commuter population, being an out-of-state student is an interesting experience on its own that could warrant its own article. In the two years I spent living in a dorm, I noticed just how quickly the college cleared out over the weekends. The first year was tough, because without a car, I ended up stranded in my dorm. Cut to my second year, I had a car and two jobs. Now, when the dorms emptied, and the dining hall food was not cutting it, I could simply grab a roommate and take a trip to Wawa. With my own source of income, I could pay for food, school supplies, and other random urges. Compared to my position senior year of high school, I was much more independent.
Despite having two jobs, six classes, and a social in my second year, I found myself unprepared for the next step towards full adulthood: Off campus housing. Living in a house seems amazing in theory. You no longer live where you learn, and you can choose exactly who to live with. The house is mine, so I can decorate how I want, dress how I want, and do what I want, right? Except, the house is actually the landlord’s property. You can’t damage anything, you get other people’s mail, and the bills. Rent alone is scary, even with two jobs, but there’s also electric, gas, water, and Wi-Fi bills to worry about. If you’re like me and paying for everything by yourself, it is a constant source of stress.
Even though living in my own house has proven more challenging than it seemed, I think it has really helped me in my college experience. Without a printer, I now have to plan when I write my papers so I can have them ready for class. I am learning what goes into running a house’s utilities. And the budgeting! Nothing helps prepare your for the real world like paying for your own bills! At least, no one ever taught me about it in high school. So, if you have the funds and the friends, try getting off campus. While it may seem independent enough in a dorm, being on campus just doesn’t show what you’ll need to do when you really get out of your parents home.