Hello, Readers! I hope your semesters are going great and you had a great Labor Day. Hopefully your weekend was fun and enjoyable and you aren’t too buried in homework yet!
Ever since I first came to Hope, I was engrossed in the fact that I had the prospect of living in a cottage at some point during my upperclassman years. Hope does a very interesting housing arrangement that other schools don’t – they buy houses in the close surrounding community and let students live in them as on-campus housing. Every one of my friends that don’t go to Hope think this is extremely weird since most schools hop from dorms straight to apartments (complete with their very own set of bills to pay). But the way Hope’s houses work is that they are looked at as on campus – so you get the idea of living in a house, but not the overwhelming responsibilities that come with it. So today, I’ll be talking about the pros and cons of cottage life! Take these into consideration as you think about what you want housing to look like for you within the next few years.
PROS
You get to live with all your friends. Such a good time! If you plan it right, all your friends will be in the same place – hopefully with you in the same house! My housemates/friends and I were super fortunate to be placed in a cozy little cottage this ear. Nine girls may seem like a lot to some people, but every day’s a great day when I get to come home to those girls. Such blessings!
You get to make your own meals. Truly, anything you want. You want Oreos for dinner and can’t get them in Phelps? Go ahead and eat the whole package. One special thing (or at least I think it’s special) that my house unintentionally does is eat breakfast together, since most of us have places to be at 8 a.m. Granted, there’s not much talking or joking, but the community of different breakfasts just makes me very happy! The house feels homey because we’re all together doing a common thing, and I love that.
Common space, common space, common space! Cottages come with a kitchen, living room and bedrooms, just like a house. This means that if you’re ready to pull an all nighter, all you have to do is walk downstairs to the living room or common area. This is similar to what you’d do in a dorm, but in a house, there whole house is yours to use. It’s just a different feeling. You’ll know it once you live in a cottage. 🙂
CONS
You get to live with all your friends. Living with friends is great, absolutely great, but with that comes living with everything about your friends. Living with them you will see their true colors: slob, mess maker, or noise enthusiast, whatever it may be. I haven’t experienced anything like this yet (and hopefully never will) but I’ve heard plenty of stories. Plus, it doesn’t bring much opportunity for new friendships. You really have to be on the ball about being intentional with people who aren’t living with you. It’s tested me already this year, but I’m getting better at making plans with people who don’t live with me.
You get to make your own meals. Most upperclassmen are on 7+ meal plan which gets you seven swipes at Phelps, Cook or the Kletz each week (plus other things, but that is neither here nor there). That means that you still have 14 meals you need to figure out yourself. And I’ll be honest… most days I truly don’t feel like making myself a meal. Breakfast is easy, but lunch gets a little trickier each day, especially when you’re used to mom keeping the fridge stocked with your favorite healthy snacks. The transition is hard, but once you get the hang of it, things are AOK.
Common space, common space, common space. Common space is wonderful! But sometimes people just get there first. Now, if they’re doing homework that’s one thing, but that could lead to rowdy conversation (like it does for my house every night!). Or there might be a movie night going on and you have so much homework that you just need some peace and quiet. It’s a love/hate thing with common space.
Obviously I was cliché and used the same ideas for pros and cons, but it’s so true for each idea. There are pros and cons to every aspect of living in a cottage. It’s a great housing option that Hope offers, and even though I’m still new to it, I love it and would recommend it to anyone – despite the pros and cons.
Until next time, readers!
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