Should you stay or should you go? Now is the time prospective high school students have been receiving university acceptance letters, and that means decision time is upon them.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live on your own, going away for university is the best place to start. After many long high school years living within the confinements of your parents’ home, one can only dream of what life is like outside of that world.
As a third-year university student myself studying away from home, I do believe that you’ll never get an experience like this one.
Going to university is like joining a new family. A large, multi-racial, multi-faith, age diverse family. However, that university family unit away from home is just THAT much better, it’s like choosing to get the side order of delicious salty fries, instead of a dull green salad.
When you’re at home for university your school community ends as soon as you leave school. You go home where you’re with your family, exactly how it was in high school. Your mom telling you to clean your room, what time dinner is, and not letting you have the opposite sex in your bedroom. Not that your mom making you dinner is ever a bad thing, but it might be time you enjoyed an experience away from all the rules with people your own age, with the same goals, and the same lifestyle.
When you’re away for university, the community doesn’t end when your day ends. Whether you’re living in residence on campus, or in accommodations off campus, your university cohort only continues to grow. There are always people to study with, eat with, or to just hang out with. It’s like living in a real-life university movie that you can’t and don’t want to escape.
Both living at home and going away for school provides you with the chance to meet new people, however, the experience away makes meeting new people much easier, as you are constantly surrounded by people. The majority of first-year students live on campus in residences where everyone around you is there for the same reason.
Residence is an experience like no other. Constant rez events, parties, and get-togethers ensure that something is always going on and there is always somewhere to be.
Yes, when you’re at home you can go hang out with friends or go to the library. But can you hang out with all 30 people who live on the same floor as you and are the same age as you at once?
Going away for university is like finally getting the puppy you always wish you had. Having the opposite sex in your room without your parents breathing over your shoulder, no problem! The freedom of living away from home and your parents is definitely ideal.
With freedom comes independence. Getting away from home teaches you valuable skills that are essential for the rest of your life. No more relying on your parents; it’s time to figure out how to do things yourself. Believe me, learning how to do things on your own is extremely rewarding and really makes you appreciate all your parents do for you.
Learning how to cook was my favourite new experience. No longer was I supposed to eat whatever mom was making for dinner! Now it’s my own menu all the damn time.
Although doing my own laundry isn’t the most fun, at least I know where all my clothes are and when I lose a sock I have no one to blame but myself.
That’s not all that’s good about living away from home. Ever worried about coming home too late and waking up your parents? Or having to come home early because your mom said so? Well, worry no more. There’s no curfew when you’re away at university because all you have to worry about is you! Post chills till 3 a.m.? YUP. Getting home at 6 a.m.? Sure, why not.
Although I’m making everything seem fun and easy, it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. It’s definitely hard to stay on top of school work without being distracted, and constantly cleaning up after yourself, but it’s all a learning experience. Throughout high school, all we wanted was to learn how to survive in real life, but all they could really come up with was teaching us the Pythagoras Theorem. Very relative to my daily life. Right?
The best way to learn is to experience it first-hand and going away for university teaches you all that ACTUAL important shit we don’t learn in school.
Going away for university gives you the sense of community that you didn’t even know you were missing. So do yourself a favour, make the right choice, and definitely go away for school.
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