The idea of leaving home, staying away from parents, is not only unbearable to students but also a bizarre idea to most parents. But hostel-life experience is a necessary notion which should not be discarded away at once because it shapes an individual’s way of life. Well, living with people of the same age 24*7 sounds outright fun. Apart from that there are particularly few genuinely concluded benefits of living without parents, amidst hundreds of people, in a hostel.
Self-dependency
Life at home is – Somebody else wakes you up, you are served food, you are pampered and probably you are the next generation princess one could imagine to be. While life in hostel is – You have to wake yourself up, fetch your food; nobody could care less about you and you’re like any other person out there. Shifting to a hostel is like turning your life upside-down to realize how well the ‘damage’ nurtures you. You wake up from your fantasies to face some real deal without having anybody but strangers to have your back. From doing every little chore to take important spontaneous decisions, life throws you at challenges which bring out the best in you. Few years in hostel, away from people who took your responsibility at a tender age, teaches you to be smart with the way you handle your problems and events. It brings a sense of freedom in a way and teaches you the ‘D’ word – Discipline.
Adjustment capability
When we live with our parents, life is easier. Neither we fear being judged, nor are we too careful about hurting somebody.Even if these happen, we have the tendency to take things too lightly because at the end of the day we are going to be loved anyway. However, I have seen how mothers advice their daughters on being adjusting to situations because apparently they’re going to be married off and embrace a different life. I personally think every child, irrespective of gender, should be given lessons about the same for every life situation. Every one of us needs to know how hard the world is beyond our sketch of a ‘perfect home’. Life in hostel offers the ability to tune in our desires and needs according to circumstances. From caring about the suitable dress according to events to speaking sensibly to respecting even the odds, instead of arching eyebrows at everything hostellers willingly welcome little changes. Nobody could master in handling a crisis compared to hostellers because they’ve faced it all – backstabbing or mishaps or crisis.
Diversity
Making friends from different communities is fun and frolic until the responsibility of maintaining your relationship with those friends comes into the scene. Hostel requires anyone living with other people all the time and it proves quite challenging as you discover the differences gradually. You learn that not everybody is supposed to be the way you are or what you expect of them. Inspite of clashing opinions, you maintain your calm because at the end of the day you don’t want to lose your peace of mind. Hostel life reflects how diversity of opinions are normal, how its criticism is your right but also how the same should be respected even if it is not a part of your beliefs. Your roommate might be a devoted worshipper and your way of life could be influenced by atheism yet that doesn’t mean you both have to share a distasteful relationship. This sense of acceptance brings tolerance which is essential to reside in everyone.
Let’s say hostel is the medium to a way of life. With many more things to learn, the above mentioned points are the three most important factors influencing a person. While it is important to live with parents, shaping of values through self-experiences are blessings in disguise. After high school, every child should be allowed to face the world with grit and motivation, only to return back as a better and matured human being.
