Ah, the joys of living off-campus. Paying rent once (or twice) a month, having to clean your shower and take out the trash and being forced to make the long trek to FoCo anytime you want a sandwich.
No, but seriously, dishwashing aside, living off-campus is great. You can come and go as you please feeling like a real grown-up, especially since you don't need some silly Dartmouth ID to get into your building.
Take it from someone who never thought she would want to leave the safety of ORL housing. Having spent all of freshman year in a single and my winter term with a friend in one of the triples in the Fayerweathers, I was pretty pleased with (read: spoiled by) the size of dorm rooms I'd lived in.
Then, my good friend and I made the bad decision to live in a double in Topliff this past spring. Screw good location and free trash pick-up -- our room was awful. It was small, hot, and worst of all, it was at the end of a hallway on the fourth floor. Needless to say, moving in and moving out ALONE were enough to make me rethink my housing decisions.
This summer, I'm living above Murphy's, and I must say that the move off campus was a good one. Now, I've got a countertop, a sink, high ceilings and a life-size fridge. My roommates and I even have our own shower, so we don't have to walk awkwardly down a long hallway in a towel every morning. And even though I've got building managers to worry about, if I want to have people over, that's a hell of a lot more comforting than thinking about S&S or a UGA knocking at my door.
Though I'm closer to Collis, FoCo, and the Hop than I was at any time when I lived on campus, I find that I do branch away from DDS more often these days. Main Street provides some pretty good food choices (where else is there to eat during the weekends, anyway?), and although I'm not a chef, my roommates and other friends have taken to cooking in the kitchen, and I happily eat any leftovers I can find.
Another joy that I've rediscovered since moving off campus is rooms with thick walls. I don't know about any of you, but I've had a few too many experiences hearing what's been going on in the room next to or above me while living on campus. Now, my neighbors do their thing and I do mine ... and I like things much better this way.
I can say with all honesty that the thought of moving back on campus when I return to Hanover my junior winter gives me the chills, and I'm going to do all I can to be off-campus again senior year. For those apprehensive kids out there who think dorm life is the bomb, branch out and try living in the ABCDs or elsewhere on West Wheelock Street for a term. I predict you'll soon see what you've been missing.
