Student Blogs: 1st Year

Just like where you go to law school, your choices of living situations while in law school can be just as varied. The choice ultimately boils down to your own personal situation and what works best for you. The best choice for me was living on-campus in the dorms.

Not only was the dorm the best choice for me, it was the only choice. Well, it being the only choice isnÔøΩt exactly true. I had the option of living at home and commuting to school but for many reasons I chose not to. The main reason was simple economics. I didn’t have the money to get an apartment on my own and not to mention furnish it. Also, I am a special breed of dorm dwelling student who enjoys living in concrete boxes and moving every nine months. As you can imagine, the dorms have their pluses and minuses.

The rooms aren’t anything special. As you would expect from a dorm, the dorms look like dorms. They come with the standard dorm painted cinderblock walls, community bathrooms, and come absent a kitchen. This can be somewhat of a problem if you like to eat.

The rooms, however, aren’t really that bad. For one, they are big. I don’t really know the exact dimensions but they are plenty big enough to fit all of the furniture, and then some. Which brings me to number two, the dorms are furnished. They come with a twin bed, a huge desk, two book shelves, a dresser, a wardrobe, a mini-fridge, and a microwave, which was great for me because I had none of those things. Despite the concrete walls, the rooms seem less bleak when you get all of your things moved in and hang up some pictures. Likewise, the lack of a kitchen is made less of a problem with the addition of some appliances and creativity.

The dorms also have the great benefit of being affordable. You pay one payment at the beginning of each semester and you don’t have to worry about rent payment, utilities, internet service, or cable for the remainder. I definitely got my money’s worth as I ran the A/C non-stop, which is something I will miss greatly as I face having to pay an electric bill in the near future. Bummer. The dorms are also very convenient. My commute to class consisted of about a minute walk, which is amazing for a snooze button lover like myself. It was great on those days when I forgot something in my room or those nights when I needed to make a quick trip to the library.

The dorms were the best move for me during my first year, but I’ve decided to break my ties with the concrete box world and find myself a dry wall covered apartment with a proper kitchen for year two. The dorms were a great stepping stone for me until I met some friends I could con into being my roommate. Suckers.

Feel free to ask questions by emailing aaronsblog@mail.widener.edu or clicking the discuss link.