Transition from off-campus living to dorm life has pros and cons
With 13X coming to a close, it’s time to start reflecting on what it will mean to return to “real” Dartmouth life. Yes, other students will return and the Hop will reopen as a viable food option, but fall term might pull students back into roommate drama—get ready to move back into a one-room double with that friend you fought with after canceling FoCo dinner plans.
Many of us experienced the perks and drawbacks of living on our own this summer. As to the drawbacks, an upperclassman friend of mine once told me she looked forward to moving back into the dorms because it meant she wouldn’t have to replace her bathroom’s toilet paper.
If you’re switching back to an on-campus dorm for the fall, you’ll luckily be much closer to important landmarks: the library, frat row and even DDS establishments. Biking through the humidity and cleaning your own bathroom will be things of the past.
Thankfully, buying groceries, paying for AC and finding cockroaches and ants in the sink will also soon be distant memories. And let’s be real: the beauty of free Internet is not to be underestimated.
Another thing I’ve learned during my stint living off campus is that being a real person is hard. Dartmouth holds your hand, provides you food, changes your toilet paper and helps you forget how much money you spend on housing.
It is certainly easier to return to Hitchcock or the Gold Coast, living the dream on campus—you’re close to classes and can make use of those meal swipes again. Yet living off campus has also been a rewarding experience.
This summer, my roommate and I have constructed something close to a home. After moving in, we painted each wall, scrubbed the floors and bought a super cute couch that fit perfectly in our small living room. With decorations on the walls and a home-cooked meal on the table, 9 Maple felt more homey than any dorm room I’ve lived it.
Spending the term in my own home also provided me with real-world skills I would never have learned in residential housing. For example, bills must be dealt with before the power gets shut off. Handling water bills, moldy food and ant infestations has made me a more capable, less dependent person.
While I am by no means supporting myself solo (I still love Collis pasta and KAF coffee), living off campus has contributed so much to my Dartmouth experience and has helped me realize that the real world isn’t as scary as I sometimes expect. So if you return to campus this fall, remember those skills you developed during your time away and store them for future use. And don’t forget to whip out those shower shoes — you never know where your future floormates have been living and walking around this term.