On-campus living

Saturday, after dinner, I found myself walking in the dark across the University of Washington campus.  (During our current period of heavy rains, I've had to pick and choose the time of minimum rainfall each day to walk!)  My route took me past McMahon Hall -- the dormitory I lived in during my years of post-graduate work.  Although you might expect the dorm to be half-empty on a weekend evening, the window of virtually every room was lit up.  

It was a warm and cheerful sight, as I pushed my way along the dark and wet sidewalk, braving a slight drizzle.

And, as I've rhapsodized in earlier posts, I once more felt a strong nostalgia for my dormitory days.  And a bit sorry that -- although virtually everyone in my family has attended college -- I'm the only one, for various reasons, to have actually lived on campus.

Why?  One reason is that it's usually cheaper to find an off-campus apartment, or, if possible, to commute from home.  Another is that, at least until recently, few colleges have provided housing for married couples.  Also, many students, in my experience, come to college rather suspicious of association with the academic world -- at least full time association.  They are familiar with the high school routine of  putting in their hours at school each day, and then having the rest of the day free from school, free to enjoy on their own.  Even if many of those hours away from school have to be spent in studies and doing homework.

Perhaps the most persuasive argument in the minds of many students is a craving for independence: They're finally escaping the firm grip of their parents, and have no interest in accepting whatever other rules they feel may be imposed by university housing authorities.  

I found none of these arguments persuasive in my own case, but I understand how others feel.  And, in any event, my own university required all freshmen to live on campus.  Where, like the overwhelming majority of students at my school, I was happy to remain in the years that followed. 

Although I vaguely understand the desire to live off-campus, I think it's a mistake to decline that opportunity if you can afford to live in a dormitory.   You have an entire life after college to live privately in a house or apartment of your own, and on your own.  But you will find it difficult to ever find a group living experience again, once you leave the university.  And it's a valuable experience.

Although I hardly realized it at the time, I learned as much from the fellow students with whom I shared our common room and dining hall as I did from the lectures I attended and the books I read.  Of course, we shared our experiences with the courses and professors we had in common.  But even more important, I found myself sensing the enthusiasm that students with totally different interests from mine brought to their majors.  Many interests I have today came not from my own course work, but from rubbing shoulders with dorm mates.  (Specifically, just offhand, I think of a liking for certain forms of classical music, and an appreciation for the goals of formal landscape architecture.)

Learning comes not just from osmosis -- although formal course work sometimes consists primarily of that process.  Argument among students over issues as disparate as politics and religion, theories of history, the existence of space aliens, and the ideas advanced by various authors engaged in various forms of literature can force the student to reconsider his own opinions and assumptions -- reconsidering them in light of the success or failure of his own arguments.  The argumentative process can lead to ways of thinking that are far more permanent and sophisticated than does the mere studying for finals.

Dorms -- and by "dorms" I'm including throughout this essay fraternities and sororities and -- in my own undergraduate university -- a hybrid called "eating clubs" -- also provide purely social activities that strengthen the ties of friendship, friendships that encourage these more intellectual exchanges.  (I became a pretty fair bridge player and (I declare proudly) member of my house's bowling team!)

So, if any high school seniors bound for college next fall blunder upon this essay, let me repeat for emphasis:  If your individual situation, financial and otherwise, makes it at all possible for you to choose on-campus living -- DO IT!.  In whichever form most appeals to you.  Be one of those bright lights shining out into the darkness from McMahon Hall.

Years later, you'll be glad you did.