By Lina Ament and

Jared Purcell

Staff Intern and You/Local Editor

The classes are scheduled and the training wheels are off. As Oakland University students take the plunge into college life, they make a choice as to what living arrangement suits them best. OU students share first hand experience with life in the dorms verses the commute from home.

OU is known as a commuter school. For many reasons some students prefer the home life.

“I only live 10 miles from school so I thought it would save money,” said Jason Rogowski, an OU sophomore. “I feel like I got the college experience by joining a fraternity — but if you are not really involved it is harder to make friends if you don’t live on campus.”

Other students are itching to get out of the house and live on their own.

“If I had the money I would move out,” said Kelsey Ellsasser, a junior. “My parents are pretty lenient but in a way it feels no different from high school because my friends leave for school and I’m stuck at home.”

Some OU students couldn’t resist the taste of freedom. Nick Somberg, an OU sophomore, spent freshman year Hamlin Hall.

“I moved in with a friend I’d known since tenth grade,” Somberg said. “I felt that living in the dorms, I’d get more of a college experience. Living at home and going to school would seem no different than high school.”

While some chose to room with friends, others have taken the prospect of going in blind.

“I wanted to move into the dorms to get the college experience. I went in blind and became really close with my suitemates,” said Ashley Trefney, an OU sophomore.

Jessica Obayan, a senior at OU said that on-campus life helped build her college experience.

“I liked the community of it,” Obayan said. I felt really involved. You see Oakland differently than many students who commute. I also lived in the student apartments which were great but I felt like I lost the sense of community you get when living in the dorms.”

No place like home

Bridget Rospierski is a junior business major at OU and she is a commuter who thinks that living at home has the upside.

“It’s close to home so I didn’t need to spend the money when I could easily drive a little over 20 minutes and I could save a lot of money,” Rospierski said.

Although those who live in dorms think commuters are missing out on a true college experience, Rospierski doesn’t see it that way.

“I know you miss out on stuff by not living in the dorms, but I don’t feel like the experience is any less because you still make a lot of friends at school,” Rospierski said. “I go and visit my friends in the dorms and I know I may miss out on things.”

Still, nothing is perfect.

“Gas money and traffic and finding a time to meet [other commuters] on campus,” Rospierski said.

“It can be kind of annoying living at home sometimes. But still, I could hang out with friends at home and up at school. I still feel like I got a lot of college experience without living in the dorms.”

Dorm daze

David Michniacki, a junior in the nursing program at OU, has lived both at home and on campus in his college experience.

“I liked living in the dorms more because you meet more people,” said Michniacki. “You have the ability to do things on your own terms instead of your parents’. You can eat when you want, you can do your homework when you want, you can watch what you want, you can stay up until you want. It’s on you.”

Still, as much as he loved the dorm life, Michniacki admits that there are perks to living at home that you don’t get in the dorms.

“You save money and there’s better food, definitley,” said Michniacki about home life.

As much freedom as you can have by living without parents in the dorms, there are still rules to adjust to.

“The nightwatch is kind of hard to get used to with signing people in and always remembering to have your I.D.,” Michniacki said.

Even though Michniacki enjoyed living in the dorms, he says that it may not be for everyone.

“Just weigh your options and ask what’s best money wise, time wise and stress wise,” Michniacki said. “It’s what’s best for your own situation.”

Also, people considering a move into the dorms should think about who they will room with. There is always a safe route by finding someone you know, or the more risky road in

rooming blind.

A new kind of crib

Focusing on the environment, OU has devised a new type of dorm that could change the face of campus living.

“The eco-interest students are a group of incoming freshmen who showed interest in the program during their orientations,” said Whitney Litzner, who is the President of OU’s Environmental Coalition. “They were picked and placed in the cave rooms in 6 and 7 South Hamlin for the upcoming fall semester.

Litzner added that students receive incentives such as an early move in date, an eco-friendly room and free organic T-shirts and recycled school supplies.