For the Spring Semester, some Ohio University students took the opportunity to live off campus early in order to make room for more quarantine and isolation spaces in residence halls.
In November 2020, Adams, Luchs, Sowle and 4 University Terrace residents received an email from Housing and Residence Life saying their dorm rooms would be used as either isolation or quarantine spaces in the spring.
Many students took the option to live off campus this semester, allowing them to reside in off-campus apartments or at home.
Madison Leckrone, a sophomore studying meteorology, took the option to live off campus. The option seemed more cost-efficient and had social benefits, Leckrone said.
“I didn’t want to have to deal with roommates or communal bathrooms and also figured it would save me a heck of a lot more money than having to buy a meal plan and everything else,” Leckrone said in an email. “A lot of my friends didn’t come back for this semester so it would literally just be me in the dorm by myself and I just did not want to do that.”
Bailey Buell, a sophomore studying interior architecture, also decided to live off campus after receiving the email.
“I was originally supposed to be living in (Sowle Hall), but I was informed late November that it would be a quarantine dorm for the semester,” Buell said in an email. “Housing said my options were to pick a different dorm, which the ones that were left were very sparse, stay at home, or live off campus.”
Students living off-campus are also able to have amenities that are not usually available while living in a residence hall.
“Honestly some of the great things about living off campus would have to be having (my) own space to work and relax without having to worry about people being too loud or an RA coming down to tell us to be quiet,” Leckrone said in an email. “I also got to get a dog and didn’t have to jump through all the hoops to get him to be an ESA which was honestly really nice and saved me a bunch of money.”
Additionally, Buell said she was able to keep her car in Athens more easily, and did not have to worry about proper cleaning during COVID-19.
Despite the benefits that students believe there are for living off campus, Logan Nagy, a sophomore studying economics, said he likes the freedom of living by himself in the residence halls.
However, Nagy also said there are some consequences to living in the residence halls, like the possibility to get COVID-19, and the lack of social interaction.
“I feel like people are less social because of (COVID-19),” Nagy said. “Maybe people are being pretty conservative with just staying in their rooms and stuff like that. Eating in our rooms is weird because of the pandemic.”
There are also some downfalls to living off campus as a sophomore, like an increase in independence and responsibilities, Leckrone said.
“Some of the difficulties that I have gone through is that process of realizing like wow okay this is all me,” Leckrone said in an email. “I have to learn to pay rent on time and do all the house chores and realize that this space is mine and that I am the one responsible for it.”
Buell has also faced some difficulties with feeling as though she missed out on parts of the college experience.
“I think the biggest (difficulty) is I feel like I might be missing out. I already missed 1 1/2 semesters of living in a dorm, and now another,” Buell said in an email. “I honestly do miss dorm life a little and I miss going to dining halls.”
Despite the challenges both on and off-campus students are facing, many are satisfied with the decisions they made.
“It is a lot of growing up, but it is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made,” Leckrone said in an email.
