By Andrew Kruszka, Staff Writer
Living at home while studying at college is not a bad experience by any means. Some believe that a student has to live on campus to get the full college experience.
To an extent, this opinion is validated. However, as someone who has lived on campus for a couple of years, living at home again during this COVID-19 semester has not been the worst.
In most cases, we live at home for 18 years while starting our lives going to elementary, middle and high schools. Why is it that we are expected to immediately move into small college dorms and learn to live on our own so soon after we graduate high school? This is not being lazy, but it is using your resources to the best of your ability.
For instance, living on campus is not cheap.
To put it into raw numbers from educationdata.org, “the average cost of attendance for a student living on campus at a public four-year in-state institution is $25,864 per year or $103,456 over four years.”
Now some can see this number and not shed a tear. However, for the majority of my readers, I know that such a number over four years can plunge the thought process of living at college.
That number is just the average cost. With that said, the alternative of living at home is a cheaper way of looking to take college courses.
From my personal experience, I get to live in my home with my pets and family that I don’t see for the majority of the time. I’m taking classes and I get to relax in my own bed.
An argument can be made that students who live at home are not as involved and can lose out on the college experience.
Besides being a stone throw away from the gym, library and dining hall, living on campus is full of rules and parking tickets. That is obviously not every student’s experience, but the ones that live at home can be just as involved.
I’ll use my own experience when it comes to being involved. With COVID-19 affecting campus life, most events are still online. With that being said, I still work for an on-campus position. I also attend seminars throughout the semester and participate in clubs like The Bona Venture Newspaper, history club and college Republicans club from my house.
I’m hoping that the pandemic finishes. However, I also hope that students consider living at home. To that end, I hope schools like St. Bonaventure University allows students like myself to be flexible and live at home; especially with everything we are dealing with today.
That being said, I should not discourage students from living on campus. I have met some of my best friends at St. Bonaventure University, and I would not have met them if I didn’t live on the first floor of Falconio Hall my freshman year. I would also not have the memories that I experienced in my first years.
When it comes to living a college experience, students should choose what they are comfortable with. If you’re comfortable with taking out loans to live at school, then you should do so. It is also an option if you want to save money and live in the comfort of your home.
I know St. Bonaventure University requires undergraduate students to live on campus for their first three years, but exceptions were made due to the pandemic.
kruszka18@bonaventure.edu
