Like most people on campus, I am always looking for ways to save money. Coming up on junior year, I was sure that living off campus in approved housing was the way to go. When I moved into our little apartment in August, I was optimistic and excited, but I quickly discovered off-campus is not my cup of tea.

I would like to consider myself a people person. I really thrive in situations when I am surrounded by people, and while living off campus, I did not get that.

From the first week on, I found myself spending a lot of time home because I did not want to take the time (and gas) to go back and forth from campus for small things like lunch or to grab something I had forgotten, so I was basically living out of my car and spending little to no time at my house. Any time I got out of class early and decided to go home, I ended up eating dinner alone, working on homework alone and studying alone. I had one roommate. Not only were our schedules very different, but in working 30 to 35 hours a week, she was not home a lot either.

In the time I spent working on things alone, I was hesitant to come back to campus unless I was going to spend multiple hours there, warranting the gas it took in the commute. I know that such a short distance is not that big of a deal, but as a junior with no job who was paying rent straight from her savings account, every trip back and forth took away from my plan to make my full tank last all semester.

In the time when I decided the event did not warrant the trip, the classic “FOMO,” or fear of missing out, began to hit me hard, and I started working on somewhere to live back on campus for the spring semester.

For some people, alone time and a space away from campus creates a safe haven that can be a great relief from the stresses of being a student. For me, not only did I watch the numbers in my bank account slowly dwindle, but I also spent far too much time eating, working and watching Netflix alone, which made for a pretty dreary semester that drove me back to the security and social setting that is a dorm hall suite with some of my favorite friends. Shout out to Braelyn and Alexandra.