This fall, as thousands of incoming freshmen settle into the dorms, another untold amount of freshmen will be settling somewhere else: off-campus.
It’s the general trend for freshmen to move into the dorms, and most people tout the dorm experience as crucial to growing and becoming part of the University. But some incoming freshmen choose off-campus housing alternatives for many reasons, including monetary and personal ones.
University senior Linley Shepard chose to live off-campus her freshman year to save money.
Although Shepard saved several thousands of dollars each term by living off-campus, the experience proved much more challenging than she had originally planned.
“The hardest thing was figuring out how to do everything by myself, like having to buy groceries, where to live, how to set up utilities and stuff,” Shepard said.
But Shepard said the benefits of saving money, having freedom without RAs and less distractions in the dorms outweighed the challenges.
Shepard also mentioned it was easy to meet new people because her friends from high school lived in the dorms, and she would meet people while visiting them. She also met people through classes.
Saving money isn’t the only reason for living off-campus. Sometimes, students’ personal lives dictate their living situations. Recent University graduate Victoria Davila lived off-campus her freshman year not only to save money, but also to live together with her then-boyfriend.
Davila said it was difficult to learn how to cook as a freshman living without the convenience of on-campus dining and little experience making food for herself.
“There was no one to cook my food like there was in the dorms,” she said. “I never really thought how much of a hassle it could be to work in making lunch between classes while studying and doing homework. Having warm food prepared all the time for me would have been a relief.”
Despite the cooking issue, Davila is happy that she lived on her own as a freshman because she had a lot of independence.
“I was in charge of myself,” Davila said. “There was no one to tell me what to do. I also learned that I was lucky in this. In the dorms, people told me they still had to act like kids sometimes, with authority figures looking over their shoulder, telling them when the quiet hours were and making sure they didn’t drink or do something bad.”
Still, Davila found the hardest part of living off-campus to be making friends. But through extensive networking and her best friend from back home who was a University sophomore at the time, Davila made friends.
“From then on, it was just about getting out and getting involved with things and bumping into the right people at the right times,” Davila said. “Now I can hardly go two feet in any direction without running into some of my beautiful Eugene friends.”
One thing’s certain: Living in a house or apartment for the first time is radically different than the freshman dorm experience.
Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re living off-campus:
• Remember to set up utilities the most essential utilities in your name, and if you have roommates, make sure their names are also on the bill. In Eugene, we use Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) for the basics, Sanipac for garbage and recycling and Comcast for Internet and TV.
• You don’t need an entire dining set for a party of eight including crystal. You only need the bare minimum of cups, dishes and utensils right now. It’s also handy to have a couple of pots and pans, but unless you’re going to culinary school, you don’t need anything fancy. Try getting these items at Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul. (Just remember to wash it first.)
• Check to see if your place has a dishwasher. If it does, you’ve lucked out; if it doesn’t, don’t forget a dish rack!
• As simple as this may sound, don’t forget cleaning supplies, including a broom, a mop and a vacuum. You’ll be making a mess as you move into your new space, and you’ll want to eventually clean it all up.
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