IMPACT OF HOSTEL LIFE ON STUDENTS

By Oluwaseun Atejioye 

There has always been a debate on whether the life in primary and secondary schools are more interesting and fun compare to that of higher education. I won’t be stating in this article that one is more interesting than the other. This article is targeted at undergraduate students. Being an undergraduate is not an easy task. One of the most important and necessary factor you need to put into consideration as an undergraduate is where to live. An individual have the options of either living off-campus or in hostels on the campus. Generally we can at one point or the other be influenced positively or negatively by the kind of life put up in the hostels. Some of the impact of hostel life on students are discussed below. 

The very first thing that is common in hostel is the use of unconventional languages i.e. hostel slangs. I was carried away recently while talking with my mum, she was like,” Seun, you need to refill the gas” and my reply was, “All the best for you oooh”. Luckily for me, she was already outside the room which hinder her from hearing me clearly. Hostels are filled with countless number of slangs used almost every time.

Also, majority of those that are freshers in hostels are known to be cheerful givers. Ask them any little thing, they will surely give it out. For me, I realized that “stingy” can be used positively. In hostels, friends and roommates will make sure they ask for all what you have, the moment you are left with nothing then your eyes will be opened to reality. Then you realize being a “Mr. Nice Guy” all the time will leave you to have nothing on you. The worst part is that if you ask with your present condition, the probability that you will be given what you asked for is very low.

Sometimes you might wondered if there is a school that teaches people how to borrow. You will find the most skilled borrowers in hostels. They will come to you with sugarcoating words and convinced you into borrowing them something. The moment it is time for them to return what they borrowed, you won’t find them again not until after many days. If you mistakenly meet the person on the road, it would be as if the person has been rehearsing. He will be like he is suffering from temporary amnesia.

A scenario that always disgust me anytime I remember is another kind of life some set of people find normal. It is not actually surprising to hear that students make use of hostel toilet without flushing, it becomes more surprising and disgusting when you enter the toilet to realize that more than three people actually defecate in the same toilet seat without flushing.

Hostel teaches someone the different styles of using the toilet seat , it is not common to see student sitting on the toilet seat in the normal way. A student can actually use up to two whole tissue papers to cover the top of the toilet seat before sitting on it.

Another style which is extremely dangerous is the yoga style. This is the situation in which an individual stands on the seat and place his hand on the wall for balancing. It is the fastest way of defecating. I also find it funny when a friend was describing his own style of using the toilet seat, it is done while you are standing, and you simply make drop into the toilet bowl and quickly dodge for splashing of the water. The day I tried it I almost fell, the water I was trying to avoid, I couldn’t, I had to place one of my hands on the floor filled with dirty water mix with urine to balance myself.

Living in hostel makes an individual to be responsible. You begin to live independently, you are able to make decisions. You live a life that you able to set boundaries for yourself. There is nobody to compel you to wake up and prepare for the daily activities.

If you are the type that easily get angry, living in a hostel will make you to learn how to tolerate any kind of behavior put up. The moment the kind of roommates you are saying with are the inconsiderate type, you simply read to know that you are in for it. Some students never have the thought of cooking at the normal time, they prefer to disturb the whole room at 1am during the midnight with the frying and heating. Also, the moment you wants to read is when a roommate will remember to put the music he is listening to into loudspeaker. And you can’t talk because he is the owner of the space.

It is also in the hostel that this common bible text is actually in application, “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Hostel life makes students to be very cooperative in times of need. The moment you are left with one cup of beans with the thought on how you will be able to maximize the one cup to fill your hunger, it is at that moment that you will realize other room members are ready for joint ministry, someone else will provide the only cup of rice he have left, another person will provide the ingredients needed. The funny part is that an individual who have nothing to give out will simply offer to carry out all the necessary activities like fetching water and washing plates.

There is something common mostly among the guys, no matter the kind of ingredient left, whether complete or not for cooking, guys can mix them together to cook a delicious meal. You will be eager to have a taste another time. A situation like cooking “concussion rice” with only salt, Maggi and pepper. Hostel experience make an individual to be a good cook, which is applicable to both guys and ladies. Ladies can testify to this, they get to know how to cook very well in the hostel.

Hostel life will make you to be another Arsene Wenger of Arsenal club. For those that loves watching football will understand better who Arsene Wenger is. He is a coach that is popularly known for his economical approach towards coaching. Living in a hostel will make you to be an economist, a degree you don’t need to pay school fees for. You will learn how to manage and make the small resources with you to yield a satisfactory demand. Hostel will teach you how to economize a sachet of tomato paste for one congo of rice.

Hostel life is an experience an undergraduate must not miss. They're experiences that you will smile at on recollecting them later in the future. And the most interesting part of it which I am waiting for is sharing those memories with my children. Though life in the hostel should be fun, at the same time we should learn and build ourselves for the future with those pleasant and nasty experiences. Let us be careful in giving space for the negative part to take control of one's life.