by Dyneisha Kornegay
As students leave for college, choosing a major isn’t the only concern. Where the student will live can also be a huge anxiety. Students’ social lives are affected by where they live during their college careers.
Students have options for housing in college. Some colleges require freshmen to live in the dorms though students can get waivers to live elsewhere.
While living in the dorms, students find themselves surrounded by others all the time. Friendships form between roommates and dorm mates living down the hall.
OU student Drew Howard said he formed close bonds with his roommate and his suitemates.
“The hall had about 20 guys that I got to know pretty well,” Howard said.
The University of Oklahoma’s assistant director of residence life said living in the dorms is a great opportunity for students because of the people they’re surrounded by and because of the nearby resources. Students have access to food, a gym, tutoring and anything else they need.
“I fully believe everyone should live on campus at least one year,” Brian Rock said.
Rock said he also believes a program should help students who lived in dorms their freshman and sophomore years transition to off-campus living.
“Students should have the opportunity to learn how to make the transition from being in the dorms to living independently,” Rock said.
While some students say they benefit from living in the dorms, others benefitted from being in another college setting. OU graduate Patrick Hayes lived in the dorms but later pledged Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Hayes said living in the dorms was a great experience but he made most of his social connections once he joined his fraternity.
“It was more of a home setting. You got to eat with friends and be around over 50 people at any given time,” Hayes said.
Students said that is one advantage the off-campus housing has over the dorms. Living off-campus, students are surrounded by family, fraternity brothers, sorority sisters or people they have chosen to live with.
Students also tend to worry about privacy in the dorms. Aside from having to share living space, students have to share their bathrooms. Even students who had to share a bathroom with siblings can be overwhelmed by the lack of privacy. For others such as Howard, that was not a problem.
“I personally did not mind being around the people in my dorm,” Howard said. “I was lucky enough that my roommate moved out first semester. Though while he was there, we were both so busy we were only in our dorms at night.”
Whether a student should stay on campus or live somewhere else is truly based on the student.
OU senior Kelsey Henderson has experienced life in the dorms and off-campus. She said freshmen should be encouraged to live in the dorms.
“As a freshman, they should go for it. It exposes you to what our university is about,” Henderson said. “There is so much diversity. You can learn about yourself and others as well.”
