by: Ton La, Jr.

Ton La, Jr., is a NSHSS scholarship recipient and student council member at the University of Houston, who has been accepted by Baylor College of Medicine and will be applying to the University of Houston Law Center in the future.

This is my third year of living on campus, and I absolutely love it! If you live on campus...

You are officially independent, which means that you must become keen about your time and learn how to maximize it. You truly only become a responsible student when you learn effective time management, and it is always the responsible student who does well in every class.  

You have a lot more time to get work done. For those that commute, let's say that it takes them one hour to get to campus and one hour to drive back home. Those two hours lost for commuters are two hours that students living on campus can spend studying and doing assignments for classes. Two hours seems like nothing on print, but in college every hour counts if you're spending your time wisely. On top of that, living on campus means you can study in the comfort of your room instead of dragging your laptop, books, and binders to the library.

You'll never have to fight for a parking spot. Here at the University of Houston, parking your car is tough, and the most convenient spots on campus are gone long before noon. Plus, parking permits are expensive and only last for a semester or two.  

You'll have 24-hour access to your residence hall gym. Since your campus more than likely has a recreation center and intramural sports to dabble in, there is no excuse for you not to exercise and stay fit and healthy daily. If you exercise at least 30 minutes a day, I promise that you'll be more energized and less tired.

You don't have to think twice about where you're getting your next meal. At your closest campus dining hall there are plenty of options and everything is hot, fresh, and ready to be served.  For commuters, however, every day they have to make breakfast, make lunch to eat later on campus, and when finally back home, make dinner. 

Everything considered, whether you are an out-of-state student or you live an hour away from campus consider the on-campus lifestyle. Living on campus is easily one of the best decisions I have made in life so far, and it has certainly enriched my college experience.