To many people, the college experience revolves around dorm life, and for me this was true for my first two years. There was nothing better than having all your friends live in the same place and being able to roll out of bed at 7:50 for your 8 a.m. However, this year I moved to a house off-campus with five friends and it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Here are five reasons why I would 10/10 recommend moving off of Stony Brook’s campus:
1. YOU DON’T HAVE AN RA!!!!
Quiet hours? I don’t know her.
In my two years of dorm living, I was never the luckiest with RA’s… Well I should say RA’s weren’t the luckiest with me. While my roomates and I never got in major trouble, we did like to have our friends come over, and also had friends from out of town fly in and stay the night but we never wanted to deal with guest policies or kick our friends out after a certain time. Living off campus we can have friends pull up at 1 a.m. and not have to worry about sneaking them in, blast music at any time and don’t have to worry about getting out of a floor meeting that conflicts with ladies night at The Bench.
2. You never have to eat East or West’s all-you-can-eat again
To me the absolute worst thing about living on Stony Brook campus was the depressing dining hall food. While there were certain things that were solid *cough* West mac-n-cheese *cough* the overall vibe of the dining halls was “same sh*t, different day.” While cooking for yourself isn’t ideal for everyone, homemade eggs sure beat the questionable ones found in East.
3. You get your own room
I feel like this point speaks for itself.
4. Decorate how you want
Candles. String lights. Tapestries. Literally whatever you want and no one will bust in to your room unannounced checking for fire hazards. Time to bring those Pinterest boards to life, ladies.
5. Say goodbye to your twin-XL
I’m a tall girl. Standing at a calm 6’0 let’s just say that the twin-XL dorm beds weren’t my cup of tea. Now, I get to come home to a beautiful queen bed that I literally think about all day. I get to stretch out as much as I want, and last week when my mom came and stayed with me I didn’t even have to worry about being crammed into the corner. Truly amazing.
College is really all about finding what works for you. If that’s dorm life, rock on! But living off-campus sure has a lot of perks, and tbh I wish I moved off a year earlier. Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and find your own place. Yes, living in the dorms makes life easy and finding off-campus housing is hard — especially at Stony Brook— but having a space to truly call yours is an amazing feeling and brings you one step closer to really *adulting*.