As a junior or senior at Xavier, you’re allowed to live off campus. However, my two friends and decided to live in the Village Apartments for our junior year. The Village Apartments are still considered on-campus housing, but since they are just steps away from campus, they give you the feel of living in an off-campus apartment. The apartments come with a full kitchen, living area, and either private or shared bedrooms, which is really great too.
It’s nice living there because it offers me a different and independent living feel. The only thing I dislike about the village is the way it makes me feel about missing living on campus.
Living in village makes me feel like I’m not connected to Xavier’s campus anymore. Being off campus makes me feel disconnected from all the events that happen there. Because you have a walk to campus, most of the time, I feel too lazy to get up and leave the apartment. Now, that is strictly on me if I choose whether or not to go to campus. But there are also times when I want to go to campus but I’m too busy doing something else in the apartment, such as cleaning.
I miss being in the center of it all. Last year I lived in Fenwick with close friends. Fenwick is smack dab in the middle of campus, so I felt like I was at the heart. From my room there, I could see everything that was going on. I miss that feeling of being able to glance outside my window and see something exciting happening on Xavier’s lawn. If I want to know what’s going on around campus, I now have to check Xavier’s website, app, or text a friend (who does live on campus) if anything thrilling is going on. I also miss the shorter walk to classes.
But what I really miss about living on campus is the social aspect of it all. I miss being able to just make friends in the common area or in the dining hall. I never felt lonely while living on campus because there were always people around, whether it be outside or walking around the resident building. I was able to greet at least one person every day with just a step out my dorm door. Your alone time is affected too, when you don’t live on campus. I used to tell myself to appreciate the alone time I got because minutes later, someone, anyone, would be there, in my space. Living in the village, it gets lonely sometimes, especially when my roommates – or other friends – aren’t around, and I find myself wishing I could go back to the time I had people who were always just a few feet away from me. While living in Fenwick, I lived with seven other people. In the village I live with two. There’s a big difference in the noise, uproar and amount of people now. I went from being used to at least one person not shutting up while sitting in the in the common room, to no one really talking while we all sit and do homework.
Don’t get me wrong, the village is very nice and really makes you feel like you’re living off campus, but one day, you may come to the realization that you actually do miss living on campus.