The Pros and Cons to Living at Home

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Unlike many of my fellow first-year students, I don’t share the joys and downfalls of living on campus. I don’t have a CL, I don’t eat at Cadboro Commons on a meal plan, and unfortunately, I don’t have the opportunity to wake up 20 minutes before my class starts.

I have lived in Victoria since elementary school. My house is about a 45-minute drive away from campus (if traffic is light). Living in a University town, it was a no brainer for me to attend UVic.

A large chunk of my grad class made the same choice as me. Because we have such easy access to UVic, we were fortunate to be able to attend recruitment events that happened during our Grade 12 year and have UVic representatives come to us. Chances are, we were familiar with the campus before we became a student. My high school graduation ceremony took place on the Farquhar auditorium stage.

I am lucky enough to live so close to UVic that my transition was easier than most, and I can stay living at home. But like every decision, there are good and bad aspects to it.

What are the PROS of living at home?

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

• First-year is challenging enough academic wise. Living at home made it easier to focus on my courses instead of additionally navigating moving out.
• Bless my parents’ home-cooked meals.
• I never experienced homesickness. With being so close to my parents, my younger sister, and my dog, this was important to me.
• I can still see my best friends.
• I didn’t have to give up simple home luxuries: my own car, my bed, a washing machine and dishwasher, my home bathroom.
• I’m saving a ton of money. Thank you, mom and dad!

On the contrary, what are the CONS to living at home?

Residence building in the Towers neighbourhood

• I feel like I missed out on some of the social aspects of the first year of University by not having roommates or friends to make in my building.
• My commute to school in traffic is usually an hour each way, and gas isn’t cheap in Victoria. Unfortunately, the buses aren’t very accessible where I live.
• Sometimes it’s hard to focus on studying at home, where I’m used to relaxing.
• Some of my peers have had a greater dose of reality living on campus and away from home, which has taught them a lot of independence. I missed out on this.
• If I sleep in, I can’t run to class. Chances are I’ve missed it altogether.
• Life feels pretty similar to what it did in high school, meaning that I didn’t have much of an opportunity to change or “grow up” – I wasn’t metaphorically “thrown into the deep end” which can be quite a useful thing when it comes to University.

Despite not having the full experience of living on campus, I love going to UVic. I am happy about my choices and feel grateful to be able to be so close to my home and my family.