Most college students – including the Bobcats at Ohio University and Buckeyes at Ohio State – enjoy living in the dorms. Yet, nearly every student will jump at the chance to move to off-campus housing in Athens or Columbus. After the typical two years of cramped residence hall living, moving into your own place, by yourself or with housemates, can seem like heaven.
Don’t get us wrong. There’s a lot to be said about living in a college dorm. For many alumni of Ohio State and OU, lifelong friendships are forged in the dorms. Especially if you’re coming to college without many friends or acquaintances from your high school, dorm life can be an ideal way to meet new friends.
Yet, living in a dorm isn’t exactly an effective way to prepare college-aged individuals for their adult life. It’s an artificial construct that likely won’t be repeated later in life (unless you join the military or go to prison). That’s where living in a student rental off campus enters the picture. Whether an apartment in Columbus or a rental house in Athens, off-campus living can go a long way toward teaching life skills to young adults.
What You’ll Learn (Hopefully) in Your Rental Housing
• How to cook. Unless you’re OK with A) starving; B) spending all your money dining out; C) making yourself sick with bad cooking; or D) bullying your housemates into cooking for you, you’ll have to learn to cook in your rental house or apartment. Don’t feel like you have to become a gourmet cook, however. Just learn the basics but do try to work veggies and fruits into your diet. Having basic food prep and cooking skills will be priceless in your later adult life.
• Getting along with others. While basic social skills come into play when you’re living in the dorms, you do have a lot of options for friends – like hundreds of them. If you don’t like this or that guy or gal, you can look in the other direction and find somebody you like better. In an apartment or house, if you can’t learn to get along with your two to four housemates, you’re facing a very long year. This is definitely more like the real world than living in a dorm.
• Learning to manage a household. Unlike the dorms, where everything is done for you, living in rental housing in Columbus or Athens will require you to pay bills, buy food, prepare meals, clean house (hopefully), and perform other basic functions of household living.
• Learn to occupy yourself. If you’re someone who needs constant social interaction, living in a dorm probably fit your personality like a glove. While living in a house or apartment with one to four others provides social interaction, it can give you a lot more time to yourself than sharing a residence hall floor with 60 other young adults. This is especially the case if you have an apartment to yourself, or are only sharing your rental with one or two others. Use that extra time to improve your academic standing, learn a hobby, or find a side gig that pays real money.