Off-campus living — exciting, intimidating, and filled with an endless amount of “I have to carry my groceries how far??” and similar realizations. All of that plus an endless supply of stairs gives you the daily point of view of any given Stevens student who has already done their time on campus.
Or, in the case of a second-year freshman, who spent a year at home instead. It’s a pretty significant zero to one hundred experience, to go from living in your childhood room to paying rent for your own apartment, all within the span of a month, so let me tell you now; the learning curve is real! There’s so much that goes into living in an off-campus apartment that you would never really think about at first. Having to buy batteries for things, other than remote controlled cars, figuring out the trash and recycling schedule, and running out of groceries and clean clothes simultaneously are some recent experiences I think most off-campus residents have probably completed on the off-campus living bingo.
When I first told a younger cousin of mine about my apartment living plans for this school year, she was far more giddy than I was. All I could focus on was figuring out what in the world I should cook to save time and money, but on the other hand she told me that this would be the best experience of my life because it “would be just like a sleepover every night!” Is it really like a sleepover every night? Not exactly, I mean no one’s mom is coming to pick them up in the morning after breakfast, and most of the time my roommates and I are busy working on schoolwork, or club-related projects, or going out and about Hoboken. Yet even without the eternal sleepover experience, it’s still been a great time to live with friends and in close proximity to other Stevens students. On a more practical note, there’s a lot of opportunity for problem solving that comes hand in hand with living here, such as figuring out the most practical storage solutions or dealing with clogged shower drains. I guess problem-solving is really just the nature of apartment living, but even more so it’s probably because a majority of the buildings here are well over 50 years old, while some have crossed the century line. To boot, most of these buildings have weathered thunderstorms and tropical storms time and time again, so they know a thing or two because they’ve seen a thing or two.
There’s been more rain and thunderstorms here in the past month in New Jersey than I’ve seen in my entire life living on the West Coast, and though these things used to terrify me I think they’re pretty awesome now. So much here is new, such as the neverending reverence of bagels, the “Taylor Ham versus Pork Roll” debate, the weather, and the sense of community in Hoboken, which ultimately adds so much more to the Stevens experience. Instead of spending all four years in the same dorm halls with the same dining plan at Pierce, we get to go out and live as kinda-sorta adults who have Responsibilities and Prior Commitments, which will undoubtedly prepare us for the real world when we find ourselves in our careers all across the globe. Some days it’s not as fun, like when you end up walking a mile to get to your go-to grocery store, but as a general rule the walkability of Hoboken and Stevens is unparalleled, which makes for a great off-campus living experience.
Second-Year Freshman is an Opinion column used to explore the unique experiences of Sophomore students who studied remotely their freshman year during the coronavirus pandemic, and are now experiencing campus life for the first time during the 2021-2022 academic year.
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