A Student's View:
Pros of living on campus

Going into room selection last year as a senior-to-be, I had a lot more housing options available. In addition to apartments, suites and pods on campus, I had a better opportunity to live off-campus, thanks to the freedom of being a senior. While the independence of living off-campus has its benefits and looks attractive in many ways, there were several deciding factors that made me choose on-campus housing.

One of my top reasons for staying on campus is the distance to the classrooms. I enjoy that I can get up in the morning, walk over to Daly’s for breakfast and just take a short walk over to the academic buildings. If I lived off campus, I know the thought of getting up and having to drive over to Rider would make it a lot harder for me to get going in the morning.

Staying on campus allows you to have somewhere to go between classes. If your schedule has a break between classes, you can go back to your room and take a nap, get some work done or play some video games without leaving the campus.

I am not the best cook. I can make French toast and I microwave macaroni and cheese. That’s about it. So for someone like me who neither knows how to cook nor has the time to make food, living on campus with the meal plan is perfect. I certainly can say that four years of Daly’s can get boring and will give you a stomachache here and there, but I just don’t feel like cooking.

Now, with the new building, new suites and new apartments, you even can get an apartment with a kitchen if you would like to avoid Daly’s and live on campus at the same time.
Another reason I wanted to live on campus was to stay involved. I participate in many activities here, including the Baseball Club and an on-campus job in the Alumni House. By staying on campus, it is a lot easier to go from one activity to another.

By being involved and living on campus, I feel more attached to the University and my fellow students. Just walking around campus on my way to the day’s next activity, I enjoy being able to say “Hi” to everyone I know. I think that is a big part of what makes Rider the institution it is: Our relationships with other students are stronger since we are a small university.

I am not 100-percent against living off campus. Getting away is something that certain people like, depending on their particular situation and feelings about on-campus housing. In fact, when I come back to Rider for graduate school next year, I am considering off-campus housing because of financial reasons.

Living on campus has its benefits, and I wanted to point that out to other students. With the new housing arrangements available like the New Building, the Ziegler and Hill pods and the other new pods and suites around campus, there are plenty of new and excellent options for living on campus. I have spent this school year in the Olson C Pod, and it has offered the best living conditions I’ve had here by far.

So when it’s time to decide on your living arrangements for next year, make sure you keep these benefits in mind and make the choice that best fits you.

— Ari Bluestein