Living the student experience

Natalie Timperio

Senior InsideOut Editor

You have ten seconds to distil the university experience down to three components. Quick – what comes to mind?

Of course, “working”, “playing”, and, the proverbial favourite, “pinching pennies” would more than likely comprise the general response. Yes, university is work, presuming you enjoy at least a little academic success.

But what follows work? Play, of course. Yet play is not limited to countless nights of binge drinking, as cinematic portrayals of student life would have us believe. Rather, it can include a range of activities performed outside academia that need not involve substance abuse, such as sports and recreational hobbies.

But play, in whichever way you interpret it, often results in a barren wallet. It is sad but true: desperate hunts for coins in couches are too often a pastime for students.

Although many may be able to identify with these aspects of student life, no two student experiences are alike.

In fact, your experience can be heavily impacted by where you chose to live during your university years – that is, away from home or at home.

Of course, there are pros and cons to both, and although most people have likely made a decision to which they will stay firm, still others may be left questioning their choice. So, let’s think it over.

Originally from Orillia, Ontario, Emily Grater, a third-year religious studies student at McMaster University, said that “the biggest reason I decided to live away from home was because I felt the needed to ‘get away’ from my home town. I was looking for a new adventure and figured leaving home ... would provide a sense of independence. Plus, there was some obvious friction at my house between my parents and myself.”

Yet Mel Napeloni, a Society for Off Campus Students (SOCS) welcome week rep and second-year English and philosophy student at Mac, said differently. As a Hamilton native, Napeloni explained that living at home wasn’t a free choice: “It was just a matter of financial difficulty. I was actually going to live away from home with a couple friends of mine. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out as I didn’t save enough money.”

Indeed, living away from home can prove challenging, especially in the financial department. Though living at home during university may not be possible because of the distance, for those who do choose to live away, the issue of money may prove problematic. In fact, Grater said, “now that I’ve lived on my own and have had first-hand experience of student living ... I would live at home if possible. Although living with my parents again could cause some unwanted stress, the financial benefits of living at home are too good to pass up.”

The cost of living for anyone is difficult in today’s day and age

throw tuition into the mix and you have a recipe for, as Grater refers to it, student living. But money is not the only determinant of the student experience. In fact, academics too play a key role.

Napeloni noted that while he has spared himself the financial burdens associated with living away from home, so too has he been able to get more studying done. “I’m not sure how students close to campus get studying done only because they have more reign to enjoy themselves, whereas at home I have a more quiet setting,” he explained.

However, Grater said that her academics have not suffered as “academic perseverance depends on the person, not your living situation.”

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the student experience as we’ve come to understand it lies in one’s social life.

Napeloni explained that “people who live with their parents live a little farther from campus so, for me, personally I’m not generally aware of some of the social settings that probably take place when people aren’t at school ... I try to make those connections as much as possible ... but [living at home] is just not the same as [living away from home]. If something is going on, or if someone is having a spontaneous gathering, it’s not something I’d even know about.”

Conversely, Grater said that her social life is undoubtedly improved in living away from home, and emphasized that “you have a freedom that would never be possible while living at home.”

Yet, a student may still lead a satisfying social life while living at home. Getting involved at the University – by joining campus clubs, for example – is a great way to tune into McMaster’s social network. You can also make friends who may not mind you crashing on their couch now and again when you find yourself craving that away-from-home experience, if only for a night.

Napeloni said that his own involvement in SOCS has greatly contributed to the standing of his social life. “I remember going to every single event during Welcome Week in my fist year. My peer mentors for SOCS were amazing so I really enjoyed the experience almost to the point of wanting to be a rep right away ... I decided it would be kind of nice to get to know the community a little bit, and progressing throughout that year and having my peer mentors messaging me all the time to see how I was doing [was really helpful].”

Whether you find yourself living at or away from home during your university years, perhaps in either case the student experience has little to do with where you live, but, rather, what you make of it. As Grater noted, “student life encourages you to look at life with optimism.” And so, the toss-up as to whether your living situation enhances or limits your experience as a university student is perhaps not so much a matter of weighing the pros and cons as it is about making what you can of these short-lived years.