Opinion | The Hostel Life – Advantages and Disadvantages (PART-2)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Hostel Life

A hostel is a place where economical, healthy and safe accommodation is provided for the students of a school or college. Many students live in hostels. There are students who move in from a different town for their education, generally hostels are meant for such students but lately even students from the same town are opting for a hostel. There they live a kind of life which is different from their life at home. This life in the hostel is known as hostel life. If you really want to know about real life then you should pass from hostel life that gives you a sense of responsibility as well as independence. Hostel life teaches you a lot of other things like teamwork, helping your roommates, a sense of unity and adjustment etc.  In a hostel, a student comes in contact with a number of other students of the same age and thinking. In a hostel, a student tends to acquire many good qualities from roommates and other hostellers and at the same time they are also vulnerable to the bad influence of others. When a student sees his next door neighbour daily taking morning exercise, he also gets inspiration. He too tries to be healthy. One good student may become an example for the other 25 hosts. When one is ill, all his hostel fellows try their best to serve him. Mutual cooperation, sympathy, and love are characteristics of hostel life. It will not be an exaggeration to say that only a hostel is the place where an all-round development of personality is possible. On the other hand, few boys who have an addiction to smoking and drinking may also give the same habit to their roommates or other fellow students. If there are advantages then there are also a few disadvantages.

Advantages of Hostel Life

In a hostel, life is full of opportunities of amusement and studies along. One is constantly in touch with young people of one’s age and can do a lot of other activities except studying. One can make friends with one’s hostel fellows who have varied tastes and aptitudes which can help you out in studying as well. One may choose his friends according to his own likes and interests and can spend quality time with buddies even after the classes. Mutual discussions of their favourite film actors and actresses, long criticism of the latest picture seen by them, and story-telling, add charm to hostel life. Good arrangements of games and sports, Sunday specials and eating competitions, and day-to-day merry-making make the hostel life a thing of envy for all. Apart from fun-leisure activities, hostellers have a unique unity and are always ready to help one another whenever needed.

However other advantages include:

As a hosteller is not under the care of his family, he develops a sense of independence and self-reliance.

Individuals form the habit of co-operation with friends and learn the art of cultivating working and behaviour.

Living in the hostel, that is usually located inside the campus saves your travelling time and expenses.

One gets a chance to bond with classmates who turn out to be one of the best friends for life ahead.

A student can take help of other fellows in studies if he has any problem with any particular topic.

There are facilities for fun, leisure and other recreational activities.

Hostels provide the best atmosphere for study. If students enjoy the hostel life in different ways, they also work very hard when the time comes for it.

When a careless and negligent student sees his partner or his neighbour competing for the position, he also tries to follow his example.

Hostel life tends to develop a healthy competition and mutual cooperation among hostellers.

Disadvantages of Hostel Life

Hostel life with its many advantages has some drawbacks also. Students coming for the first time to a hostel, find an entirely new atmosphere. The freedom of the hostel at times leads them astray. Their parents are not there to check them. This may lead them into evil ways. They begin to smoke, gamble and at times even to drink. A daily visit to some cinema becomes a routine. Some students spend money lavishly and even borrow money from their friends. Living away from their parents they do what they can’t do in their home. They fail to choose good companions. The unlimited freedom proves harmful for such students. If a hosteller falls into a bad company he has chances of going astray. He does not get proper money from his parents, he has the tendency to develop evil habits and to divert his categories under the influence of bad company. It is also possible that if he looks at a rich co-hosteller spending extra money and enjoying himself, he develops an inferiority complex which spoils his character and personality. The students staying at hostels are denied the love and affection of their near and dear ones. The absence of loving care which only their parents and other ones can give tend to a nagging sense of loneliness. Other disadvantages may include:

Ragging by seniors

Influence of bad company may draw a student towards smoking, drugs and drinking.

At times it is difficult to concentrate on studies in the college atmosphere that is full of youth and fun.

Living conditions are far less comfortable than that at home.

A lot of students have the problem digesting the routine food served at the mess.

Parents send their wards to the hostel for study, but there they waste their time in enjoyment and merry-making.

Sleeping late may hamper concentration in class on the next day. (Ends)

– The writer can be reached at vkmalout@gmail.com