Campus life is great and exciting except for the part where you have to share a small room with a stranger you call a roommate. Living on campus dormitories can be exhausting, especially if you are more of a private person who seeks private space. While you have all the freedom you want in campus, you lack the space to enjoy the freedom when you live on-campus. That is why more campus students are, today, exploring off campus housing options. The demand for off campus apartments for students is on the rise. This is no surprise given that 87% of campus students live off campus, as a 2016 New York Times article states.
To meet the high and continually increasing demand for off campus housing, rental units for students are on the rise. College is designed to not only give you a solid education but also teach you how to be responsible for life’s other aspects such as time management and money management.
Living the student life on campus is not exactly a great motivator to make you learn money management. However, getting rent invoices, buying and cooking food and paying for gas will teach you exactly what you need to hack your adult life. After all, you pay rent for your shared dormitory space, so it’s not exactly free as it may seem.
You can only get this vital experience by living in off campus apartments. College dormitories make room for crazy memories with friends and social networking, but that’s just it. You miss out on the responsibility training part. Ironically, these are the skills that you’ll need to thrive when out of college.
Most students are discovering that they can live a more quality life off campus and still be part of the fun college activities. You get the best of both living in off campus apartments as you’re still part of the campus life, and you can make friends and socialize. Luckily, you have more off campus housing options than you can’t exhaust, and finding affordable student rental units is just a click away.
Here are more benefits of living off campus.
1. You Have the Freedom to Choose Your Roommate
When you opt for off campus housing options, you can choose whom you want to live with and team up as roommates. While living on campus, you don’t get to choose your roommate. Given that we human beings are social creatures, we easily influence each other. You want a roommate who influences you in the right direction both in academics and social life. You don’t want to pick up bad habits that may stick with you for a lifetime from a roommate you just met. As you get to choose your roommate when living in off campus housing for students, you pick the friends that positively complement your behaviors.
2. Social Amenities at Your Disposal Make Your Student Life More Enjoyable
While living off campus, you’re near more social utilities such as shopping malls, grocery stores, and night clubs. The student apartments also provide more storage space, kitchen space, a living room, and private bathrooms.
3. Increases Your Chances of Getting a Part-Time Job
Since you get to interact with the working world more than your college friends who live on campus, you are better placed to secure part-time jobs designed for college students. It could be at the grocery shop you buy your vegetables from or even the local hotel near you. Also, you get to network with working people who are more likely to direct you to work opportunities compared to your fellow students.
Living off campus is in many aspects, better than living on campus. You get to own responsibilities at an early age and pursue a more healthy style of living. You will not be overwhelmed by the demanding ways of adult life as you will have already experienced some parts of it. Off campus housing options will serve you all the right experiences in life at a student-friendly cost.