<p>Home by definition is a place in which one's domestic affections are centered or any place of residence or refuge. However a house is a building in which people live. Leaving for college is usually a big change for most people, but for the most part, it is where we become adults. Studying is only one aspect of college, but the real fun comes in adapting to the change of the living environment. The purpose of Residence Halls is to smoothen out that transition. As an incoming freshman, it is recommended that one stays on-campus; in a residence hall rather than off-campus, in an apartment, a co-op or Greek house (freshmen have to pledge first). I feel the students at Purdue do not appreciate the residence halls enough and do not give them as much credit as they deserve.</p>
<p>When thinking about a residence hall, curfews, strict visiting hours and restraints come to mind. On that note, many people are hesitant to commit themselves to living such a prohibited lifestyle. Residence halls provide a structurally sound environment for the growth of a varsity student. By structurally, I mean that there are guidelines to follow, yet there is room to explore and grow. With the watchful eyes of Resident Assistants (RA) and Residence Life Managers, residents are kept in check at all times. For some, a residence hall cannot replace home, but it can become a place where ones domestic affections are centered; toward fellow residents rather than family. These fellow residents are now the makeshift family. In comparison to living off-campus, a residence hall provides a firm root to propel us into having a successful first year. </p>
<p>The criteria through which I am going to evaluate the residence hall with are cost, distance from campus and means of transportation, facilities and amenities, dorm lifestyle, academic and social benefits from living in a dorm, and support from residence life managers or resident assistants in dorms.</p>
<p>Dorm life, more often than not, is just eventful. Plain and simple! The social atmosphere is good as local and international friends with similar or other diverse majors can be made just by staying on the same floor. From personal experience, these friends will be the comfort zone that one returns to after having a bad day. Together, we go for meals, attend dorm-sponsored and other social activities which balance the merciless workload. Dorms provide facilities and amenities, namely 24-hour laundry rooms and computer labs, recreational games and lounges with big-screen cable televisions and high-speed internet, making living and studying away from home as easy as possible. Residents being teenagers with generally large appetites have food first on their mind; however, cooking is the last thing on their mind. With dining courts in the same vicinity of the residence halls, making their own food is the least of the residents worries. They can have a sumptuous all-you-can-eat meal at these courts which is a stones throw away. There is no hassle as far as utility or electric bills are concerned as everything is covered in the residence hall fee averaging to about $8500 a year. Ultimately, the residence halls are usually the closest to academic buildings, which makes commuting really basic, even in winters! By walking a few blocks, one can be punctual, even if one wakes up a few minutes before class starts. As dorm residents, we are only required to maintain our own rooms. As far as academic benefits are concerned, if one is having a problem in homework or assignment, just a scream of HELP! down the hall and other residents will be flooding into your room with solutions. Resident assistants organize residence hall sponsored trips to establish a community and a circle of trust through being involved with fellow residents. For instance, Meredith Hall recently had a trip to Kings Island Amusement park and a Paintball trip. Along with that, the interaction with RAs is beneficial to students as resident assistants know a great deal about the university and provide support and advice whenever possible. These events present students with more opportunities to assimilate into college life.</p>
<p>As far as apartments are concerned, social life may be harder to come by. The likelihood of meeting new people will be smaller than when staying in a residence hall, as there will only be a limited number of neighbors in an apartment. Moreover, surrounding neighbors are likely to be of many different ages and lifestyles and not all of them will have an understanding and liking for college activities; hence help from friends or resident assistants is not easily available. One will be responsible for cooking and cleaning and determining who handles different aspects of maintaining the household after reaching a common consensus with house-mates. Coming to a common consensus can take a long time due disagreements on severity or quantity of chores per person. Rosters must be drawn up to prevent any misunderstandings or miscommunications so that all the chores are done on time. Eating out and getting external help to clean the house can get very expensive for a college student. Food from fast-food joints is not healthy, so cooking is the only logical option, in my opinion, which is time-consuming and requires more cleaning up.
To add on to the already uncomfortable situation, utilities are an added monthly expense. One might have to pay for his own high-speed Internet access. Bills must be split amongst the occupants of the apartment and disagreement could occur there as well. One might say he or she did not use the washing machine or dryer as much and does not wish to pay her or his full portion. Another major factor as a student is transportation to and from campus. Depending on how far off from campus your apartment is, to get to campus, one will either have to walk a long distance, take a bus or drive a car. If you chose the latter, gas prices and expensive car permits will be added to your expenses. In an interview with a resident assistant, who stayed in an apartment and resident hall at any one point of time said, Finding a parking spot is inconvenient and taking a bus is a drag, as they do not show up as scheduled, so I get delayed. In an apartment, the basic furniture is only included such as a desk, bed, chairs etc., but often there are many more items needed. One will need to invest in his own furniture to make the apartment a home along with kitchen essentials, bath necessities, cleaning supplies, and appliances, like a toaster, microwave, coffee-maker, which could be a huge start-up cost. </p>
<p>There are two sides to every story. If privacy is paramount for you, an apartment is the way to go. One can often have your own bedroom, bathroom and share common rooms with only a few room-mates. However, in a residence hall, privacy is not really an option as it can be noisy at times because there is bound to other residents and your room-mate walking in and out of your room. There are shared bathrooms for each floor where about 20 residents use, which is in no way private. In apartments, there are no resident assistants or adults supervision, hence there is more freedom; one can eat and sleep on his own schedule (no timings to keep except classes) unlike that in residence halls where ones eating schedule is decided by cafeteria hours. Dorm rooms can also be a very small space which you share with someone, maybe even someone you've never met before but when. On the other hand, in an apartment, you have the liberty to choose your room-mates you are comfortable with, for a cheaper price and a larger living space. From the interview with the resident assistant, she said A two-person apartment cost me $700 a month for my sister and myself. Utilities and food came up to $2400 a year. So on average, my parents paid $5400 a year per person which is much cheaper than a residence hall. In my opinion, in an apartment, your social life is dependent on how often you go out, however in a residence hall, social life is nearly inescapable. The close living quarters means that it is often impossible to avoid social life which isn't always "fun" or good for your grade point average (GPA). Dorm activities can often feel like unavoidable obligations which should not be the case.</p>
<p>I am an international student living in a residence hall of Purdue University. From my personal experience, staying in a residence hall has really benefitted me. A few weeks ago, my laptop gave way, and in this new age and computer era, a college student would be handicapped without a computer as assignments and home-works are mostly computer based. My residence hall had a computer lab which I had around the clock access to which allowed me to do my work without any inconvenience. In an event when I was very hungry, I was able to rush to the dining courts to have a wholesome meal. There are days where I missed home; I had friends, resident life managers and resident assistants to turn to for help. From an interview with one of the residents parents with regards to residence hall, the mother said that. My son gets lazy when he has to cook, and between cooking and not eating, he will choose not eating. I do not have to worry that my son is starving or not, because I know he will go to the dining courts. Apart from that, I am assured that he will be taken care of by the residence assistants and the residence life managers. Through activities like the Kings Island trip I went on, I made more friends and this gave me a chance to bond with my residence assistants. This makes it easier for the resident assistants to understand the problems I have since they know me better. </p>
<p>I had no troubles sliding out of bed few minutes before my 7:30am class and still making it on time, even by just walking! From a survey I conducted with current residence halls occupants, about 75% of the residents are satisfied with the residence halls and want to continue staying in the residence hall. The other 25% want to move out to other housing, their main reason being the size of the room is too small. From the resident assistant interview, she said I have experienced living off and on campus, and to be honest, it is so much more nostalgic and fun to stay in a residence hall as it feels like a close-knit family- it is exciting! In my opinion, putting the cost factor aside, a residence hall has got what it takes to become a second home - a home away from home Taking the general consensus from the survey, the interviews, weighing the pros and cons of choosing a residence hall against an apartment, I have come to the conclusion that residence halls are an all-in-one facility to enrich your college experience and make it a more memorable one too.</p>