Seton Hall University - Galleon Yearbook (South Orange, NJ)

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outside world. It gives you the op- portunity to experience respon- sibilities that you cannot ex- perience in either the dorm or at home. Bills have to be paid, apart- ments have to be cleaned, laundry must be done, and no one can live on beer alone. The responsibilities are greater but just as with anything else, once you get the hang of it, the rest becomes routine. The most difficult thing about living off-campus probably is moving home after graduation. A person’s home is his her castle; once it becomes your own, there’s no other place like it. can be a good way to spend a sleepless evening. Watching late night television A house is less empty with music as background noise. 25

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There’s No Place Like Home Chef for a day. Students living off campus learn how to master the kitchen armed with a frying pan and a well stocked refrigerator. Off-campus housing is one of the alternatives to living in the dorms or commuting from home to Seton Hall. Finding an apartment in the area is very difficult, but not impossible. It takes time, patience and, of course, the funds to do so. Living with two to four other stu- dents is not only economical but fun. For those students who have chosen this way of school living, they find that their t ime is spent dif- ferently than those who either live in the dorms or commute. Learning to cook is one of the first lessons an off-campus dweller must learn. Meals can consist of anything from pretzels to steak depending on funds and likes and dislikes. If you’re not lucky enough to have an apartment with a laundry room, the laundromat is a place you will find yourself visiting, although not too frequently. It’s fun to walk in with three weeks worths of laun- dry and your roommates and take over the entire place. Some of your quietest moments will be spent there and it’s a great place to get studying done. Home decorations are usually quite unique. Some of the interiors of the off campus apartments would make interesting spreads in Apartment Life magazine. Beer cans can be glued together to make end tables. Giant wire spools dis- posed of by the phone company can be used as breakfast tables, and of course there’s always the old faithful orange crates used as speaker holders and record racks. Yes, most college apartments are decorated in early attic, but with a little imagination, and even less money, it is interesting to see how creative students can be, and it’s nice to have a place to call “home.” Privacy and large parties are also two of the advantages (or disadvan- tages) to living off-campus. It de- pends largely on your mood and the compatibility of your roommates. It’s very difficult to live so closely with people when you’re splitting the cost. In the dorms, students seem to take it for granted that there is very little living space, therefore, privacy is basically im- possible. Off-campus living has the advantage of ‘maybe no one will be home’. But the unfortunate side of being so alone, or so far set from campus is when loneliness sets in and you find yourself saying “I hope there’s someone home.” Nursing major Leslie Kern, a for- mer resident student, commented, “Living off-campus, I feel more isolated because I have my own place.” She added that one of the advantages is “it’s also quiet and you can concentrate on your studies.” One of the disadvantages of liv- ing off-campus, Kern pointed out, is the darkness of the South Orange streets which she feels are “unsafe and the old fashioned street lights don’t do much good.” Robert Kopil, a senior who also has an apartment in South Orange, said that in living off-campus there is “more privacy, more room and it’s cheaper than living in the dorms.” A disadvantage, he added, is that “you get lonely every once in awhile and sometimes your privacy can become too private.” One group of students that live in a two-family house in Irvington have made a hobby of collecting luxury items. “We have four rooms, four televisions, four phones, two stereos, a bar, cable television and we just had ‘call waiting’ installed. It’s getting to be quite an expense.” All in all, living off-campus is definitely good preparation for the 24

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Seton Hall University : Bui] I (Above): Future Scientists of America begin their first experiments here in the Science Building. (Right): The School of Education teaches students how to help others learn. 26