School Hostel vs Off Campus: Should I stay in School hostel or not? What are the major benefits of school hostel life and why do you think I should not live in the University hostel?
These are the top questions asked by newly admitted students in addition to schools fees and course registration queries. I spent over three years in school hostel and at such has a lot to offer as regards the topic at hand.
In this article, I will list and explain the 8 disadvantages of school hostels and 5 reasons you should not think of living in the hostel. This piece is scientifically compiled based on findings from major Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education across Nigeria.
The following are Universities and Polytechnics I shall emphasise on: Covenant University, Federal University of Technology Owere (FUTO), University of Benin (UNIBEN), University Of Lagos (UNILAG), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Illorin (UNILORIN), Abu Zaria, Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Auchi Polytechnic, Lagos State University (LASU), University of Portharcourt (UNIPORT), University of Ibadan (UI), Laspotech and many more.
Trust me, I will try to make this topic as interesting as possible.
What's in this guide?
8 Advantages And 5 Disadvantages Of Staying In School Hostel
Are you ready for the comparison? Take a glass of chilled water, tighten your seat belt and let’s begin the interesting journey.
8 Reasons You Should Stay In School Hostel:
1. Hostel Is Relatively Secure:
You want to graduate right? Then security should be your number one priority. School hostels are more secure compared to off campus.
With every passing day, we hear gists about how arm robbers attack students who live outside hostels and take most valuable properties from them. I have not heard or experienced gun attack inside campus hostels. It’s rare!
Another common security threat outside campus is cultism. Cultists operate more outside campus than school hostels.
One beauty of living in campus is that there are security guides all around the University environment. They would always check around whether there are issues.
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2. You Will Learn To Tolerate People:
Some species of persons and behaviours you will find in school hostels will make you wonder whether those guys were made in the image of God. However, you would be able to cope with and tolerate them.
Before now, you always feel that everyone has to think and act the way you do; but you are wrong. Just the way our faces differ, so also does our hearts and characters differ. Meeting different persons makes you understand and begin to take them for who they are. Hostel fosters relationship building.
There is a common belief that you can stay anywhere in the world if you can survive in school hostels. That’s because the school hostel has exposed you and able to make you solve compatibility issues.
See Also: Five persons you need to succeed in school
3. You Will Have Broader Knowledge:
You will be surrounded by students across various faculties and departments. Interacting with them will help you know more about other fields of study. Meeting different persons will also make you know more about life.
I have been able to know more about Medicine, Pharmacy, Accounting, Law, Biochemistry, Mathematics, Nursing, Agric and other beautiful courses because of the privilege I had to live with students from those departments and faculties. This is possible because the school hostel allows students in various departments to come together.
Apart from knowing more about their courses and departments, the school hostel also gives you the opportunity to meet persons from different states and tribes. In this case, you would be able to learn other languages and know more about places you have not been to. You will as well learn how to prepare different kind of dishes.
In one way or the other, you will always meet amazing people that you would love to be like. Your senior colleagues could also be in the same room with you to give you materials and advice ahead of time.
4. Reading Enthusiasm:
The school hostel has been able to dramatically boost my reading habit. Your reading life will likely increase by ten fold if you live in the school hostel.
Every minute, you will see persons going to night classes to read. There are times you won’t find anyone left in your room and you will be like, “na me come dull pass?”. The next thing is for you to also take your things and rush to night class or reading room.
No matter how good you are at reading, you will find persons who read far more than you in the school hostel. I have seen people read for more than 24 hours straight and I have done it many times too. The school hostel has a way of boosting your reading habit and enthusiasm.
In addition, your result will likely be better (get a good result) in your first year if you live in a school hostel. You will be too comfortable if you live alone or with just one person outside the school. Off campus presents you with all the pleasure life has to offer.
Read Also: Reasons why your reading habit is dying and what to do.
5. Proximity To Source Of Information:
Information is what puts you in the right position and it is what you have in your head that takes you ahead. The school hostel gives you first hand information about what recent happenings in school and what may likely happen next.
Yo would be the first to know whether the class would hold or not, whether there would be attendance, what the lecturer is planning, the new materials to read for the text and exams, the Students Union Government newsletter and any information you need to come out in flying colours.
6. Proximity To Classes:
You will be able to rush to class in case of emergency tests and attendance. It would also be easy for you to go back and pick anything you might have forgotten in the hostel.
Apart from the instances above, it is good to walk to class just in few minutes. You don’t have to be exhausted anytime you trek to class. It would also save you the transport you would have been burning daily to come to class plus possible hold ups on the road.
See Also: Amazing things to tell yourself every morning before class
7. Stable Water And Power Supply:
Most University hostels in Nigeria have alternative sources of power supply. There is always electricity at night when the public electricity power supply interrupts supply.
Every student needs electricity at night to cook, read, and do other stuff. The presence of an alternative source of power supply makes hostel better than off-campus. Even if you are able to afford a generator off-campus, noise and the fact that you have to spend money on fuel is a big turn off.
8. School Hostels Are Affordable:
You pay as low as #8,000 per session in some schools hostels. If you don’t have much money to waste on rent and other properties you need to live comfortably outside campus then try the school hostels.
Another benefit is that you will always find persons to help you when you are stranded in the hostel.
There are many more advantages of staying in the school hostel, however, the above points should be enough for you to decide whether to stay in a hostel or not.
5 Reasons Why You Should Not Stay In School Hostel
1. You Need To reApply Every Session:
Your hostel fee only lasts for one session. The school sends every student packing at the end of each session. You will always have to reapply for hostel and you may not be lucky to secure space the next time. The condition to reapply is that you must first pay your school fees.
This switch will make you meet different roommates who may not be as nice as those in your first room.
2. Bad Habits And Privacy:
You may be wondering how many persons stay per room in the school hostel. The number could be lesser than five for a high quality school hostel. However, the number generally ranges from 8 to 17 persons per room (I am not exaggerating).
In Unilag, Uniben, aau and other hostels, you have so many persons living in one room. This will really result to privacy issue. You can’t have personal private life or private property. Your things could be taken without permission and you could meet random persons “crashing” in your bed space.
Hostel is very annoying since you will see persons with different philosophies and raw behaviours. You will come across fellow students who may seem psychopathic schizophrenic. The habits displayed there is something else.
The School hostel toilets are generally dirty and smell bad… Some students defecate without flushing while other leave faeces behind on the floor. It is very disgusting that I won’t want to dwell on that.
Many students living in the hostel are dirty and as such mess up the school hostel environment. You will notice different odours in the hostels.
Read: How to overcome procrastination as a student
4. Bad Influence And Robbery Issues:
With such a number of persons in the hostel, there will certainly be bad eggs. Remember, evil communication corrupts good manners.
You can change from good, amazing, soft and God-fearing boy/girl to a bad girl/boy overnight. You are not immune, it can happen to any persons. This influence can begin from the music, chat, and interactions that happen in the hostel.
Another bad thing in the school hostel is that students steal a lot. People steal clothes, boxers, pants, laptops, phones, slippers, bucket, shoes, headset, pot, and many other properties in the hostel. It has happened to me (Adetunji Matthew of AidTheStudent.com) and my friends.
My Infinix note 3, clothes and fan were all stolen in the hostel. Although people could break into your house to steal when you stay off-campus, however, little domestic stealing is rare.
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5. Heat And Bed Bugs:
Unilag and many other hostels are breeding environments for bed bugs. With that number in the room and everyone cooking simultaneously, you could imagine the heat that would be generated. The hostel is not a place of comfort at all.
In conclusion, It is now your choice to decide whether to stay in the school hostel or now. You already have all the points and comparisons you need to make a decision. However, I will advise every year one students to stay in the hostel… After your 100L you could then decide whether to continue in the hostel or not.
I wish you the very best in your future endeavours…..
