By Sabrina Ranada
Whether you decide to live in a dorm, canyon home or off-campus can greatly affect your college experience. When making such a weighty decision, it is important to consider both the pros and cons.
The majority of TMU students are housed in the campus dorms. Each of the dorms offer a different kind of environment, which is another thing to consider if you do decide to stay in a dorm. They range in gender-affiliation, size and newness. Generally speaking, all the dorms provide the same services and amenities, and are all located in the same area on campus.
Students in the dorms can choose a cafeteria meal plan best-suited to their needs, and can also request which specific dorm and roommate(s) they want. Ian Pence, a junior, had nothing bad to say about his experience in the dorms. Some of his positives were the AC unit, “plenty of room” and storage.
Another positive that applies best to the dorms is involvement in various student life events, which allow for more connections with other people and new experiences. Pence acknowledged that the communal bathroom situation (which some people may see as a negative aspect of dorm life) didn’t particularly bother him.
The TMU canyon homes are a recent and exciting addition to TMU resident life. These homes were first established in 2021, when the university began buying houses within Placerita Canyon. These homes were remodeled and refurbished to accommodate students. Because of their proximity to the university campus, these homes provide a new kind of experience for students (typically upperclassmen) to enjoy more freedom, extra amenities and a small but tight-knit community.
Instead of a strict meal plan, canyon home residents can opt for the $1000 flex bucks, which can be spent almost anywhere on campus (including Trophy Coffee!). A full kitchen and increased control over surroundings can also be helpful for students with allergies, dietary restrictions and other health concerns.
The facilities exclusive to most canyon homes — pool, backyard and full kitchen — were a major draw to Noelle Borland, a TMU senior. She also said that it came with its own challenges: “A few cons would be the rooming situations and bathrooms. Some of the rooms have more people crammed in than they comfortably fit, and as someone who highly values privacy it is very testing … when every resident is just about on the same sleep schedule, the bathroom situations can get very touchy.”
Ella Ranada, a junior, added that the smaller community makes it harder to meet other students outside of the assigned house.
Sophia Holdorf, a junior, said that some of her pros are: “the kitchen, fewer girls around and therefore deeper relationships … the ability to host church events, birthday parties and other ladies events which bless others.” Living in a house provides more opportunities to exercise hospitality.
On the other hand, one of Holdorf’s cons was that the lack of “dorm spirit” and “traditions” makes it a bit more difficult to build community. While dorms have competitions and special brother-sister events that make students feel more connected (under the shared affiliation of their dorm), the canyon homes do not really have anything of their own.
Finally, choosing to live off-campus can look different for every student. As an off-campus resident, where you decide to live, how you’ll commute and how connected you are to the university campus can greatly affect your experience. This option can be very cost effective depending on where you live, and who you live with.
Marissa Soto (senior), Julian Maniquiz (freshman), Madison May (sophomore) and Shane Stawski (senior) all agreed that a major positive to living off-campus is that it is generally cheaper (with the exception of expensive gas and parking passes). Soto added that living off campus has provided more opportunities for evangelism. However, they also said they feel more disconnected from campus. It’s harder to be involved in student life events, and they typically spend less time with their peers than an on-campus student would. Maniquiz shared that the responsibilities and time management needed to commute can also be a struggle.
Every housing option comes with its own potential positives and negatives, so it’s up to you to consider all these things and figure out what is best for you. The Master’s University provides all these options to best accommodate its students and provide an ideal college experience — take advantage of it!
The TMU Mane 