Contrast living with friends, and living with family for undergraduate students in Bangladesh

Living away from home

Did you know that a large percentage of students are bound to live away from their family to
pursue an undergraduate degree in the country? This is mainly due to the indirect transportation
channels making it time consuming and other inconveniences associated. Hostels equipped with
necessary facilities with low rental expenses have made them rooms for thousands of students planning
to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Living in apartments or hostels with friends have mostly been a necessity
rather than a choice for most cases and local students do not really show positive signs when given an
option to live with friends leaving out their family. Living with parents surely makes one feel like home,
creates a constant mental support system and provides better conveniences than living in hostels or
apartments with friends.

First off, a house is a home only when it’s full, when it comprehends all the members of a family
and thus, having parents around is always a matter of delight as students experience one of the biggest
transitions in life during this time. Family makes one feel safe, happy and loved. This allows for a positive
energy to disseminate trough every action by the student and reflects a sound mind leaving no room for
loneliness. Living with friends however, cannot cover up for the homesickness and the lifestyle one has
been used to for years. Another factor is that friends cannot be as close as the family members so it’s
not very easy to open oneself up completely as it would be in case of family members.

Again, everyday things can get really complicated at times and will require close ones to support
mentally thus, makes living with parents a better option. In many instances like an academic failure,
health issues and other mental breakdowns, none can offer better support than family members. If we
look at friends though, most of the times they will be busy with their own life. It is difficult to expect true
mental support from someone who also has a lot to deal with just like any other student. So, busy
schedules of students leave little scope for friends to be of good help when it comes to providing mental
support and handling mental trauma of any sort. Having family members around surely mitigates that
issue.

Furthermore, living with family helps to provide better conveniences as it’s very difficult to
manage study and other elements of a bachelor’s life altogether. One may easily consider having helps
regarding food preparation, keeping the house tidy and transportation in the best-case scenario. This
extends to even academic help if one has an elder brother from the same academic background. In
contrast, one wouldn’t benefit much from living with friends in this regard as one has to take care of her
belongings and support himself or herself with such activities like cooking and cleaning. This actually
hinders the ability to focus only on study and rather divides the attention into many factors that needs
to be managed altogether. Also, group studies with friend could help but such sessions usually end up
being non productive due to lack of discipline among students rising from the absence of any authority
which, having parents around could ensure.

It is thus safe to claim that Living with family has added benefits which cannot be gained by
living with friends. Be it a difficult day at the campus or a mental struggle, Family members can
understand the feelings better. Family members will always be there for every need and this is mainly
due to the strong bond developed over the years of togetherness. On the other hand, living with friends
in most cases is not an option but a necessity and most students wouldn’t be enough comfortable with
sharing all of their personal issues with friends. On that account, local students perusing the degree face
less struggles both mentally and physically compared to the ones coming from other cities who are left
with no other option but to rent apartments and live with friends.