A Sophomore Speaks: Premium housing worth the upgrade
Choosing to live in premium housing after living in a regular dorm room is a bit like sitting in first class on an airplane after being crammed in coach. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with sitting in coach, but if you pay a little more, you could be sitting more comfortably with some extra legroom.
The best aspect about living in premium housing is that you can make it homier. You can finally walk into the shower without a caddy, sleep with your door open and, if your roommates don’t mind it, walk from your room to the shower without a towel on.
The rooms are a lot more spacious and the closets are twice as big. So if you’re like me and have more clothes than your wardrobe knows what to do with, then you would be glad to know that you do not have to limit the clothes you bring to school.
Rider can get swelteringly hot during September and May. I’m sure most students can relate to sleeping on top of their covers, with three or four fans pointing at them. If you hate waking up drenched in your own sweat, premium housing provides air conditioning to keep you cool and comfortable on those hot nights.
There are obviously some great reasons to fly first class, but there are some negatives to it as well, just as there are some negatives to living in premium housing.
First, make sure that you get along with everyone you are going to live with, and refrain from starting fights as much as possible. I know from experience that living with someone you don’t like makes your living environment less enjoyable, and why would you want to pay extra money to live with someone you don’t enjoy being around?
Also, I recommend not spending every waking hour with the people in your pod or suite. Sure, you might be really great friends, but too much time with the same people can cause the best of friends to become annoyed with each other.
You’re also going to have a shower that you will be sharing with the people you live with. You won’t have a cleaning service to clean the toilet and shower every day anymore, so you have to do it yourself. Also, it’s not OK to take the random pieces of hair that fall out while you’re in the shower and put it on the walls. Of course, that’s never alright, but you catch my drift.
The worst thing I’ve found about premium housing is that you are never alone. Sometimes, I just want to be left alone in my room, and that’s definitely something a lot harder to do if you’re living in a pod or a suite.
Choosing to live in premium housing is a big commitment. If you decide to take this route and then decide you don’t like it, there’s a lot of paperwork you will have to fill out to get out of it. So, as the time to choose next year’s living arrangement approaches the week we return from spring break, I hope you take into consideration the good and the bad aspects of living in premium housing.
– Paige McAtee
Sophomore journalism major
