One of the greatest things I have here at Ohio State is my freedom. I am free to take almost any class I want to fulfill my GECs. I am free to pursue the major of my choice and even the option to create my own major or minor. I have the freedom (thanks to a mandatory fee, ironically) to go to one of the best recreational facilities in the world.
And despite all this, President E. Gordon Gee wants to take away a freedom I've been enjoying all year: the freedom to move out of the dorms. I am one of those ambitious young sophomores who found some room to live before I was mature enough to even consider living like an adult. According to Gee's views, I shouldn't even be able to consider making my college my home. If we were to follow the policies of Vanderbilt, I'd have to consider OSU my nine-month educational retreat instead. How fancy.
A lot has already been said about Gee's policy, so I'll try not to wear this story out. After all, this isn't life or death for me. I managed to slip through the cracks before Gee had resumed his presidency, and there's nothing he can do to me now. By the time any changes have been made, I'll be living out there in "the real world" with the rest of my graduating class. Still, something should be said in defense of the future.
Something people don't seem to understand, something vital to this debate, is that college can be the real world. The dorms are not. Assuming you weren't born into boatloads of money, you're not going to have a janitorial staff to maintain your bathrooms, sweep the dust away and empty your trash the rest of your life. You might at some point in your life need to cook, take out the garbage or do the dishes.
Living in the dorms is like living in an expensive summer camp year-round. People are going to have fun and be safe, make friends and make the grade, but they're not really living an adult life.
At 19 or 20, some of us might be ready to make decisions. We might be ready to call someplace besides Mom and Dad's "home." I'm not berating all the college kids in the dorms here, but I'm saying that there's a choice to be made, and Gee wants to restrict that choice as much as he can.
College isn't confined to what goes on on-campus. The college experience isn't just about sneaking beer past the RA and eating at Marketplace until you want to puke. I see great examples of the college experience just walking back home from class on a spring day.
Columbus is a bigger place than just OSU. So let us explore, Gee. Let us get out there and make our own mistakes instead of restricting us to on-campus housing in the name of safety. Personal freedom must always come before a school's parental instincts.
Richard Poskozim is a sophomore in journalism. He can be reached at poskozim.1@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!