For some students at USC, living in a dorm might be the highlight of freshman year. Classes are walkable, friends are just down the hall and students can always pop back to the dorm for a quick nap between classes.
But what happens after freshman year ends? After all, dorms are no longer a guarantee for all students at USC after their first year ends. Instead, they have to find their own housing in the Columbia area. This might include apartments, townhomes or other rental homes in nearby neighborhoods.
In a recent study among college students, 65% reported feeling lonely. A student's living situation may impact this as living on campus is key for students to create a sense of community. When they have to find other options for housing, students are at risk of becoming isolated from the university and its culture, causing their mental health to decline.
In a traditional dorm setting, students are brought together through events that their residence assistant hosts. This becomes an opportunity for students to branch out. They might meet others who share similar interests and connect with peers who also live in their building, or even on their floor. When living off campus, students lose this access to peers.
Instead, their sense of community completely shifts since they no longer have a built-in path to building relationships. Even though some apartment buildings in the Columbia area host events for their residents, not every student at USC lives at these residences, which can cause them to feel alone. Isolation from their peers is detrimental to a student's mental and physical health, as loneliness can lead to depression and sleep problems.
Students who live in houses in nearby neighborhoods might have neighbors who are completely different from them. These neighbors can be far beyond their college years, working full-time jobs. These neighbors could also have young children. Students might have difficulty finding a sense of belonging in their new neighborhoods because they no longer live around other college students.
Living off-campus can also make it difficult to get to university events. A student might skip out on basketball games or club meetings because they live far away. Students are also responsible for finding their own transportation and not every student has a car. Even something as simple as going to classes might become difficult due to a lack of transportation. If they have no way to get there, then a student won't be attendance. This can lead them to feel alienated from USC and other students.
Furthermore, a student might not even come to campus when they don't have classes. Why would they, when nothing requires them to be there? This means that students can go days without stepping foot on the University. In my own experience, when I don't go to campus for a few days, it feels like I am not even a student at the university. It is easy to forget that we are here for college.
Campus culture is important for students to find their place in college. On campus, students become a small piece of a larger puzzle. Without having a proper sense of belonging, students feel alone.
All students at USC deserve to find their place, which is why the University should implement activities and programs designed for students living off-campus to meet other students who might live in the same zip code as them. Activities would help to bridge that gap, offering a new way for students to branch out and meet new people.
Isolation isn't healthy for college students. Everyone at USC should feel like they are apart of the community, not just those who have the privilege of living on campus during their first year and if they are lucky, beyond. Students deserve to feel like students even when they leave the campus grounds.