I started my first semester at WSU in the fall, but I did not move into a dorm until this semester. Even though I have only experienced living in a dorm for a couple of months, I am starting to think about moving into an apartment in the fall. 

I have not lived in an apartment yet, but I believe that it would be a better experience than the dorms. 

Olivia Hess, junior criminal justice major, said she loved the environment in the dorms, but she likes the apartment she lives in now better. 

“I have my own kitchen, my own bathroom and I have to clean it and I have to really take care of it myself,” she said. “It’s like a good first step into the real world.”

I am excited to go live in an apartment because it will give me a sense of what it is like to live in the real world while going to school.

Nate Leu, sophomore athletic training major, said he likes living in an apartment better than the dorm as well. He said it gives him more privacy from his roommates than when he was living in a shared and open room. 

I agree with Hess and Leu that living in an apartment would be a better experience than the dorms. I plan on living with a friend next year, and I think that having more space than the dorms offer would help us not want to bite each other’s heads off. 

I do not have a roommate this year because of COVID-19 restrictions. Even though I absolutely love the girl I was going to live with, I enjoy living by myself. Because of the small space I currently live in, I feel like I have more privacy than I would have with a roommate. 

I think living in a dorm helped prepare me for actually living in an apartment. Living in a dorm with a good community helped me learn how to be social with my neighbors. 

Even though COVID-19 restrictions made it so I am not able to socialize a whole lot with the people in my hall, I have still been able to meet a couple of people who I interact with in the hallways. 

Both Hess and Leu told me they loved the community within their dorms.

Leu mentioned he always had people to talk to and his resident adviser always helped him out.

Hess said she had friends in her hall and she enjoyed having the dining hall right downstairs. 

“It was pretty fun,” she said. “It was also really easy to get to class.”

While I agree that living in the dorms is fairly enjoyable, I would much rather live in my own apartment, and speaking with Hess and Leu helped me make that decision.