People paint the “freshman-year experience” in an idealistic lens, but not being from an upper-class family wakes you to the reality. Without living in the dorms or going through Greek, I was still able to meet my people and get involved.
As a first-generation student, the college experience wasn’t mapped out for me. I couldn’t just rely on my family to help out, nor afford the funds for all four years.
Deciding to go to a community college felt like a downgrade. It didn’t have the same “flair” or “prestige” to it, nor the activities that are available here at the University of Idaho.
But in the end, it was valuable. It allowed me to work and set aside some money for tuition and rent for when I would get up to UI.
Having that time away did allow me to hear from my friends about their experiences living in the dorms, while most of it was good, some of it was bad.
As a transfer student, I wasn’t bound to the regulations of having to live on campus for my first year, it was just an option. I got lucky when a friend of mine needed someone to move in with him.
Being able to rent an apartment made it easier to have a private space to relax and not having to worry about some of the rules the dorms have. The only issue I had was that most students that live on campus get benefits such as parking and food.
What does present a problem is living alone. With on-campus housing, you do get RAs that check-up on you and easier access to food, depending on where you live.
Living off campus doesn’t disqualify you from participating on campus activities such as clubs or Greek Life. Joining these organizations have been a saving grace for me to learn more about Moscow.
Renting apartments isn’t as terrifying as it seems, but does present its own difficulties to those without good credit.
Most places may flat out deny you for not having enough credit, which sucks, but some places may ask for another month of rent on top of the security and first month of rent.
The other part of living off-campus is not having to deal with many of the pains that on-campus residents face, like parking and food.
Menial tasks like laundry can be difficult as some rentals may not include a washer and dryer and it would be till my last year that my current rental doesn’t have those two.
Finding rentals is the hardest task that I encountered at the end of my first spring semester. I was able to thankfully find a place in Pullman. Some of the student living rentals have deals that help to save money which is great.
Overall, there are a lot benefits to living off campus if you are able to, where there is a true sense of freedom. College is about how much you put in, because that’s how much you get out.
Those that complain “there wasn’t anything to do” didn’t go out to find it. Clubs and activities help form the connections that make UI great.
As long as you go out and try, living off-campus can be both rewarding and enjoyable.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @DVR_Tweets