Hi everyone!
Okay so I’ve been wrestling with this issue for a while now. I’m currently a premed freshman biology major and I’m living in the dorms. It’s been a full two months now and I still really don’t like dorm life. I’m definitely a bit introverted and I need a lot of time to myself to collect my thoughts/de-stress/study effectively and I don’t feel I’m getting that here. I’ve really been giving it a shot so far, I’ve joined a club and a study group and I’ve met some amazing people in both. At the end of the day though, I hate coming back to my little box of a room. I just don’t feel like myself here. I feel like a burnt out, depressed version of me. Being premed, my main concern is that when I’m here I can’t focus as well here and I’m nowhere near as productive as when I try to get work done when I’m home. As a consequence, I’ve been going home every once in a while just for the night to get some serious studying done because I’m not getting that here. This semester is okay grade-wise because I’m only taking basic gen. ed classes but next semester it get more challenging and I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it up if I’m still living here. This is why I feel as if commuting might be a better option for me next semester (I live 20 mins away) but I’m afraid to make the switch because of the stigma of commuting at a largely non-commuter college. Also, my parents have expressed that they really don’t want me to move home because they feel I’d be missing out on the “college experience”.I think my mental health/grades are more important than the possibility of an experience that I probably won’t have because I don’t drink/party anyway.
So it seems fairly simple right? “Just commute! You have to do what’s best for you!” There’s a bit more though… I live in a special pre-health community on campus that’s selective, had to interview, etc. and one of the perks is that we’re all guaranteed certain classes like bio, chem, and some labs for the first year which is AMAZING. If I commute I’d lose that perk. So I really don’t know if I should stick it out all year feeling miserable just for the classes or commute and be happier in general. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!