English
DORM LIFE VS. HOME LIFE
Introduction
A college is a very exciting experience and it is worth noting that for most students, it is their first chance of becoming independent and living away from their home under the care of their parents. There are several living arrangements for college students. These include; rental homes, off campus or on campus apartments as well as dorms (Honari, Goudarzi, & Heidari, 2010). There are some colleges that requires their students to live on campus while others provides more option for an individual student. There are pros and cons associated with each, hence it is important that the student consider the advantages and disadvantages prior to deciding on where to stay while attending college. Basically, dorm life and home life are a representative of two most distinct ways of staying in different environment (Honari, Goudarzi, & Heidari, 2010). Despite that, a deep analysis of the issues is the only way of knowing the differences and similarities. As one applies to university or college, he or she makes a decision whether to stay in a dorm with someone else or not.
Thesis statement.
Living in a dorm during your years of studies is the best way to have a full experience of college life.
There are several benefits associated with dorm life compared to home life. First of all, amongst the greatest advantages of dorm life is that there is cleaning service included. Apart from doing your dirty work, cleaning service saves you more time as a focused student. It is the responsibility of the facility staff to refill toilet paper and the soap, vacuums the common areas and disinfects the bathroom as well as taking out the trash before you even get out of bed to begin your classes. Therefore, if there is someone who can do all this for you, then dorm life becomes always a better option.
Secondly, dorm life comes with proximity which is actually an obvious advantage, even though it is underrated. Living in a dorm ensures that you can easily reach your class without the hustle of walking for a long distance or incurring the cost of transportation on public means. You can also easily access the library, your best friend’s room, on campus parties as well as sporting events within campus (Feaver, Wasiolek, & Crossman, 2008). Additionally, you will never have to be worried about either getting parking tickets or driving to campus. Furthermore, why should you opt for home life when dorm life is there to present you a great opportunity to meet new people and make many friends? Usually, a dorm houses over one hundred students thus allowing you casually meet and interact with people from various other backgrounds. Irrespective of whether you are assembling individuals to make a late night fast food run or play an impromptu sport of volleyball, it is worth noting that this provides you the opportunity of meeting many new people whom you may not have met by being a home life student.
There is also the safety aspect associated with dorm life. Compared to home life, there is adequate security for students guaranteed by the institution. For instance, students are provident with special key card access as well as a door key (Feaver, Wasiolek, & Crossman, 2008). They are also monitored throughout by the security personnel of the college as an additional security measure. Campuses in colleges often have the campus security patrol. There are also night shuttle to dorms provided by most schools and students can also be escorted if they so request. It is also worth noting that, unlike home life, living in a dorm guarantee that you will not have to pay bills. Therefore, you will not have to be worried about late payments or legal contracts. With a dorm living, you may only just pay a large price at the start of the semester which often entails all the utilities such as Wi-Fi connection and cable. You also do not have to worry about shortage of hot water or handle the resetting of Wi-Fi router. In academic perspectives, dormitories are an excellent places of meeting people and forming discussion group to finish assignments or school projects. You are likely to be with your classmate in similar dorm. Generally, dormitories can be used as a place for students to assist each other’s with classwork. The students that live in dorms also do not have to deal with nagging parents who keep reminding them to read books every now and then (Cochrane, 2006).
Furthermore, there is no furniture moving as far as dorm life is concerned. Everything you require to survive include everything you are interested to bring as well as those snucked into your bag by your mother without your attention (Ocampo, 1989). This is unlike staying off-campus where you will require furnishing your room with furniture including a couch, a dining table and electronics such as a television or a radio. It is also important to note that a dorm is an ultimate center for entertainment while in college. This is because many dormitories entails a room for game or any other important form of entertainment. For instance, there are some universities where each and every dormitory has a pool table, shared access to the outdoor volleyball and basket courts as well as a huge television within the common rooms. Another advantage of dorm life is that one is presented with the opportunity to customize his or her room (Cochrane, 2006). Basically, it does not necessarily mean that due to the fact that you live in a dormitory you have to be in a large hall, have a roommate or even share a bathroom with more than twelve people. There are several schools and colleges that ensure upperclassmen are provided with different types of dormitory. In case you are not in need of sharing a room with anyone else, you may look into the option of your school for a suite style dormitory. You may have the opportunity to live in a single room. In case you like cooking so much, consider a dorm that has the best kitchen.
Even though dorm life in this case is regarded as an excellent option for students, home life may be considered over dorm life considering the disadvantages associated with living in dormitories while in school or college (Honari, Goudarzi, & Heidari, 2010). For instance, there is no privacy since one must be accompanied by a roommate when living in a dorm. Sharing a room with a stranger at first may result to various conflicts amongst roommates which may turn out to be a worst scenario. In case you are a person who likes your sleep, then dorm life may not be a good option to consider because of noise. Basically, almost every rule that was ever given to you by your parents is rebelled in campus. Therefore, some even stay up till past midnights regardless of whether it is week days or weekends. Even though you may be lucky to find a good roommate, it may be sometimes unfortunate to meet a person who is just plain annoying or freaks you out (Anderson-Rowland, 1998). With dorm life, not everyone you meet may be interesting to you but there is also need for you to adhere to a fine respect’s line. Other things that makes dorm life not any better compared to home life include but not limited to having a meal plan, having compulsory breaks as well as having too much of freedom which may lead a student into immoral behaviors such as prostitution, drug abuse among many other bad things.
Conclusion
Living in a dorm during your years of studies is the best way to have a full experience of college life. Prior to even getting to colleges, most students come across several horror stories concerning dormitory life and make preparation of moving into apartment as soon as possible once admitted (Ocampo, 1989). However, the reality is that, dormitories are actually more like an all-inclusive resort and not houses of horror and misery as alleged. Dormitory provides the students with the chance of delaying the adulthood’s responsibility for some few more years, and experience college life fully without intimidation, fear or limitations. It is good to keep in mind that dormitory may be an excellent experience for one individual and yet a terrible one to another. However, dorm living is a necessity for most people going through colleges and university (Anderson-Rowland, 1998). Living in a dorm ensures that one overcome his or her anti-social skills so as to deal with new people you meet from various cultural, religious and economic background. At the end of it, these situations may help an individual in his or her social life in the long run.
References
Anderson-Rowland, M. R. (1998). Using a roommate preference survey for students living on an engineering dorm floor. doi:10.1109/FIE.1998.736903
Cochrane, R. (2006). Dorm life and the college experience: What you really learn at school--. Ellsworth, ME: Red Cup Entertainment Books.
Feaver, P., Wasiolek, S., & Crossman, A. (2008). Getting the best out of college: A professor, a dean, and a student tell you how to maximize your experience. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.
Honari, H., Goudarzi, M., & Heidari, A. (2010). An investigation of the ways Tehran university students follow a specific life style and pass their leisure time with an emphasis on sport. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.896
Ocampo, D. R. (1989). Student development and involvement: The effects of living on campus among residence hall government students.
