Students at universities often have a choice of places to live. They may choose to live in university dormitories, or they may choose to live in apartments in the community. Compare the advantages of living in university housing with the advantages of living in an apartment in the community. Where would you prefer to live? Give reasons for your preference.
Students are often able to choose whether they want to live in a dormitory, on a university campus, or in a separate apartment in the community. Each of these environments has its advantages. In this essay I will present some of the facts that support both solutions, and I will argue in favor of living in an apartment.
Living in dorm offers a chance to improve communication skills, to learn to live with other people. For example, roommates must adjust their eating and sleeping habits according to each other’s needs. Each one must arrange his free time in such way that he doesn’t bother others while they are studying. Moreover, the social structure of the dorm community is in many aspects similar to that of a typical office, or workplace in general. Both environments require finding solutions to various problems and cooperation of the people in order to achieve that. Thus, by adapting to conditions of living in the dormitory, students actually prepare themselves for their future jobs. The environment in the dorm is friendlier and understanding, because it is consisted of other students, who often have similar problems and interests. The social life is more interesting, too. For example, if students failed to understand a lecture as it was presented in class, he can ask his friends from the dorm for an explanation. Also, it’s much easier to find a common topic to chat about, or an interesting activity to practice in free time.
On the other hand, living in separate apartment usually means having less neighbors and roommates. In fact, it is not a rare case that a student has whole apartment for himself. In this situation, there is less distraction, so students can concentrate better on their schoolwork. As a consequence, their grades are better. Another advantage is that living alone means having more privacy. This aspect is very important, because everyone has personal secrets, which he wants to hide from all other people, even the closest friends. Finally, students who live in the apartments can maintain contacts with their neighbors, ordinary people, and are not confined to academic community. This way, students are offered a wider variety of experiences from everyday life, which they may find useful in their future lives.
If I were in a situation to choose whether I would live in the dormitory or have a separate apartment, I would choose to live in separate apartment. It could be argued that living separately narrows one’s circle of close friends, precluding him from having regular contacts with other people. This argument goes on to assert that such students are deprived of social experiences, and therefore remain aloof and introvert. However, it is a fact that students can make enough friends even if they live outside of the university campus, especially if the apartment is shared between several students. Furthermore, friends can visit each other as often as they need to. They can maintain friendly contact in a way, which doesn’t affect their school performance. Careful planning and wise distribution of time can achieve this. If a student assigns enough time for studying, his grades won’t suffer, and he will still be able to spend the remaining time with his friends. Alternatively, students who live in a school dormitory are constantly surrounded with familiar people. They can’t avoid excessive socializing, even if they want to. Therefore, they spend too little time studying and they get low grades.
In conclusion, living in the dormitory may be more interesting and socially challenging, but it’s rather unsuitable for serious studying. Living in an apartment, however, allows a student to socialize, but only to the extent that doesn’t affect his schoolwork negatively. This way, positive effects of living both in dormitory and in an apartment are obtained.
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