4 reasons why one should experience hostel life

Hostel life can transform your personality completely. Stepping out of the comfort of your home equips you with all the essential life skills you need to survive

Every girl dreams of exploring the world and reaching out for the stars, but very few get the chance to do so. I feel blessed to have had my parents’ support to fly high and pursue my dream of higher education.

Owing to my father’s transferable job as a civil engineer, I got the opportunity to travel and stay in various cities of India. However, I never went away from my parents for studies. So, deep down I nursed this desire to experience living on my own.

I really looked forward to my hostel life when I enrolled into UPES for my BBA in 2018. As luck would have it, I got the kind of room I had envisioned for myself in the campus hostel.

When my family came to drop me off for the first time, I was apprehensive – how would I be able to manage my life without them? However, time just flew and I have now completed two years as a hosteller. These have been the best years of my life as an independent girl.

Living in the campus hostel has been an enriching experience for me. It has helped me to gain a new perspective towards life.  

Sense of responsibility

Right from my day one, I was the driver of my own decisions. Waking up at 8.15 a.m. and still making it to the class at 8.30 surely sharpened my time management skills.

I would eat cakes during the first week of every month and it would descend to counting pennies towards the end of the month. The pocket pinches could never let me buy my favourite denim, but it surely taught me to value money and to handle my finances.

Every new day brought in new life lessons. All the things I depended on my mother for, I learnt to do on my own. It made me strong and self-reliant.

Sense of adaptability

My first experience of travelling alone by train, packing my bags, going to the station, finding my seat, the continuous thumping of my heart, until I was home – it just made me fearless and now I don’t hesitate to grab my backpack on impulse and step out for a new adventure every now and then.

During these two years, living with people from diverse backgrounds helped me to enhance my people skills. I learned how to fight the odds, be resilient, maintain my calm and keep going, no matter what.

Memories for life

All the moments of fun we spend with our friends in the hostel on a daily basis become beautiful memories once we look back at them – preparing for midnight birthdays surprises, watching late night movies and then those long conversations on random topics. Studies become way easier at the hostel – you have friends who can come to your rescue if you have any doubts. We used to have combined study sessions and I credit a lot of my high grades to the preparation support by my roomies.

One thing that every hostel student excels at is making Maggi! With numerous recipes learned over the years, I am a pro at it now. Mess is the most happening zone of our hostel – we spar over gulab jamuns and earning an extra one is a victory in itself.

Making new connections

The hostel has become my second home and I love every bit of being here. I have connected with people from different cultures. I have fostered bonds that will endure forever. My friends have accepted me with all my crazy habits and mood swings. My interactions with them have helped me to develop a sense of acceptance towards people from diverse backgrounds. The hostel wardens, Ms Manju Pant and Ms Poonam Dhillon, have cared for me beyond the call of their duty. I really cherish being part of the hostel committee where I learned to contribute to the world around me.

With a prayer in my heart and a wish on my lips, I look forward to going back to the campus and meeting all my hostel friends again.

(The writer is a student of BBA Core, 2nd year, in UPES School of Business)