Borja, Alyssa Marie A.

2nd sem. / SY. 2018-2019/ 1st year/BSN 1C

Instructor: Melody Claire M. Bachao
Topic: Studies, Distance, Independence

Entering college is one of the biggest milestones in a person’s life. College life can be an exciting
or a stressful phase in one’s life. Before the start of college life, there is the decision for the need of living
away from my family in order to live closer to the university or college and to lessen the burden of the need
for long hours of travelling back and forth. Probably many students just like me decide to do this also
because they want to be more independent and to live away from their families. I knew from the very start
that this is a decision that may either help me, or give me a hard time during college. This factor may have
an effect on my academic performance, and that the outcome of this decision would make me experience
some changes that I have to adapt and cope with.To many students coming from distant provinces, the
experience of living away from home is like a roller coaster ride. You see, I have to take 56.1 kilo meters
travel from home to my school every day if I don’t rent a house near my school. Living far away from home
can be difficult at the beginning, but once you have got used to it, it can be highly interesting. Since this is
the first time living far away from home for such a long period of time, I ended up realizing the two
important effects it had on me:

1. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Yes. I must say I became personally developed. Living away from home separated me from my usual habit
of day to day interaction with my family. Although the living arrangements are limited to minimal
communication and interaction between me and my family, still the bond between us exists. I may not also
achieved full emotional and financial independence because in a way parental authority and influence is
still there.

The major, and also the very common problem that I have faced is that once I started moving out and lived
for like three days away from home, I always end up getting homesick. You see, my family and I have this
tightest bond the world could ever had. I start missing the attention, the little moments that we share
together, such as watching TV shows, or telling my parents and siblings how my day went during family
meals, and also coming home from school, greeting my parents “Hey guys I’m home!.” Besides, I often
miss the facilities I used to have back at home, like my bedroom, my bed, my stuffed animals, and even our
bathrooms. As a result, I started to realize how valuable my family are, and appreciate everything I had
back at home.What’s more about living far away from home? I learned how to do things by myself.
Adjusting and adapting is not an easy process especially if students like me are used to being provided by
my parents from the moment I woke up until I go to sleep. I had to be optimistic, I ended my carefree life
and stepped into a life full of duties.

What is it like to have a life full of duties? It was the time of my life where I started to worry about
every aspects of my life, from bigger ones such as balancing my budget for food, for the electricity, for the
water, for making ends meet, and to smaller tasks like cleaning my room, doing my own laundry, waking
up early in the morning to prepare for my breakfast, and learning how to get around with random people
Another effect it had on me is:

2. MY ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Have you ever experience the burden of travelling 2 hours back and forth from your hometown to your
school? It feels very very tiring right? I have experienced this many times. I came up with the thought that
as a student, I should spend my time wisely and that is the time I decided to live near my school. You see,
I could spend the 2 hours studying in my dormitory than travelling home every day right?

Time management. It was the greatest challenge that I have faced ever since college life have
started. One way to ease this pressure and in turn reduce stress is by staying organized. Staying on top of
classes, assignments, social engagements, personal responsibilities etc., and scheduling the school week
accordingly made my campus life so much easier in the long term. The simplest way to do this is by
writing things down in a day planner. What I usually do is I write it on a sticky note and I post it on the
walls of my room at the dormitory.

Take Responsibility for Yourself. When we talk about taking responsibility or accountability for
oneself in college, we often think of no longer making excuses for poor grades or missed appointments.
But on a more basic level, taking responsibility for oneself is as simple as eating right, exercising
regularly, doing laundry, washing the dishes, etc. These are fundamental life-skills that I have learned.
Living alone made me become more ambitious, independent and better prepared. I was able to
concentrate more on my studies without any distractions like wifi, television, noises and many more.

To sum things up, studying away from home made me a better person. I learned so many things
even I myself did not thought that I could do it. I learned how to manage many different daily activities
like studying, socializing, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and even servicing broken things at my dormitory.
Each day I make small decisions about my priorities, one of those are managing my monthly budget. I
have to be responsible or I will fail. There, you only have yourself. There won’t be no one to wake you
up, to tell you when you have to be at school, to tell you that you have to study, etc. At the beginning It
was tough, and that’s the time when you will have to decide whether you want to continue or you want to
give up and go back home. If you continue like what I did, you will become responsible enough not to
waste your time and money, but to do your best to learn as much as you can and enjoy your days as a
student.

Of course, depending on your character, you will do it your own way. I was the kind of student
who delayed a lot of tasks and enjoyed “sweet life” as long as possible, and then studied day and night to
pass my exams, but I always knew my limits. I had to. I felt responsibility for my studies!
You learn how to build good relations with many different people even if you don’t like them
very much. You will probably have housemates, since I don’t have a roommate, let’s just talk about my
housemates whom I refer as my neighbors. Instead of living with your parents and your siblings you will
suddenly live with complete strangers! You will have to be very very patient, disciplined, flexible and
friendly. Even on your bad days, it won’t be nice to leave dirty dishes. You’ll discover that the concept of
“clean” varies very much from person to person. As time passes, you will make some lifelong friends.
Some of those people you share the best times, as well as the hardest times with will become your second
family. I created connections. Creating connections with your neighbors, with your classmates, and other
students is another way to form healthy support system while away from home.

Studying far from home brought me so much advantages and disadvantages. I must say that
independence is cannot be predicted by age rather, on the level of maturity of the person. Now I must say
I am developed into well-adjusted individual and is ready for the future. Thank you!