Bowl in a China Shop: Campus commuters get better end of deal

Anyone living fewer than 40 miles from Ball State needs to commute.

Why? Because you miss nothing by doing so.

Sure, orientation leaders will tell all you new students about all the benefits of living on campus - even if your family is from Muncie - because commuters miss out on a lot of campus events.

No we don't.

Now before you get angry about how I have trashed dorm life and don't know what I'm talking about, read this next sentence very carefully.

I can talk about dorm life because I lived here my freshman year.

If I had it to do over again, I never would have moved on campus. I wasted nearly $4,800 of my and my parents' hard-earned money to live in a place I could have driven to from my house in 15 minutes.

There's no logic in that. Commuting to campus saves everyone some money.

Plus, I had a nightmare experience with the first roommate I had. Let's just say we didn't get along too well, and we parted ways after a month.

My second roommate and I got along fine. She was one of the only real friends I made at Ball State my freshman year. We still keep in contact.

I quickly found out all of the alleged bonding that goes on in the dorms is a myth. I lived in a hall with 25 to 30 other students, and only five or six of them would actually carry on a conversation with me, or even knew my name for that matter.

And so much for floor activities. I went to maybe one floor meeting the entire year I spent in Tichenor Hall, and the activities on the floor were a joke.

I got invited to play "sex in the showers" with a few of my hallmates and some guys from another part of the building, but I didn't go. They basically sat in the showers in our bathroom and talked about sex, giving the details of their sex lives.

If I wanted that kind of immature atmosphere I would have stayed in high school.

Yes, there's so much to do in the dorms (that's why I went home every weekend).

There's also the issue of privacy. Commuting means you don't have to walk in on your roommate and "a friend" having sex in your bed.

You can also clean house as much or as little as you want without a roommate griping (your parents would gripe instead, but they're used to how you keep house).

Moving is a pain. I've moved seven times in the last eight years, the result of a family split and remarriages on the parts of both my parents. Moving is stressful. Don't do it if you don't have to, especially if you're from Muncie.

Doesn't the image of some college freshman packing up a bedroom's worth of belongs and hauling it across town to the dorms to be "on your own" sound a little ridiculous?

Absolutely.

Which brings me to another point. You really aren't on your own. Sure, you won't live with your parents, but you're still spending their money, unless you get a handful of student loans. Being on your own means supporting yourself financially, and living at college doesn't necessarily demonstrate that.

College is about getting the education necessary to have a meaningful career. It's not about living in the dorms for a semester-long pajama party, even if they are close to the library and you have easy access to food.

This is my fourth year at Ball State and because I have lived both at home and on campus, I can say this:

Anyone living less than 40 miles from Ball State should commute.