Torch

Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Features

St. John's University is primarily a commuter school, but with the new dormitories being built, the option of making the university a place of residency is becoming more popular amongst students. So, what is the best way to experience your college years? There are positives and negatives to both living situations, but it really depends on what feels right for the individual.

Living on campus in the resident village is one option. For a standard double room at St. John's University, students pay $7,600 a year. Meal plans are required for all resident students, of which there are seven different options, ranging from $2,500 to $4,620 per year. However, various aspects of living on campus may seem peculiar for someone who is a commuter and has never lived in the dorms. They may raise their eyebrow when resident students talk about 1 a.m. fire drills that left them outside for forty-five minutes, or how they have to occupy a suite with seven other people. Some would wonder why anyone would ever agree to these terms. Only when you are actually in the dorms and experiencing the situation first hand can you grasp what this is really like.

On the positive side, roommates, in most situations, can be almost like instant friends. They are someone to talk to and hang out with at all times. Living in such close quarters with people makes it a lot easier to get to know each other, and to forge deep friendships since many things are shared. Even when the roommate situation does not work out, you are forced to learn how to handle conflicts and compromise with other people. This may be hard to get used to at first, but by the end of the year, your problem solving skills become quite cultivated (at least in figuring out who gets to control the television set for that night).

Living on campus is also convenient for travel time to class and getting homework done. Since the dorms are less than 10 minutes away from the academic buildings, residents have more of an opportunity to catch extra minutes of shut eye and simply dash off to class in their pajamas. The library is only a five minute walk from the resident halls and is open late into the night. By residing on campus, students can study later at the facility and not worry about driving home when they're exhausted, or dealing with distracting noise from siblings. The dining hall is located right across from the resident village, making meals simple since meal plans are required for resident students.

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