Blake Rangell lives 20 minutes away from Long Beach, but he said the reasons he chose to live in the dorms are the same as everyone else’s.
Rangell, a resident at Parkside Commons, is from Downey, which is a 15- to 20-minute drive to Cal State Long Beach.
Rangell said he decided to live on campus for a fresh start.
“I didn’t really like the area that I was living in and seeing the same faces over and over again,” Rangell said. “I just wanted to be in a new area completely.”
He said it feels good to be away from home and likes that he’s still close enough that, if he ever needs anything, it’s not a hassle to drive back.
Research continues to show that students who live in university housing have an advantage over students who do not live on campus.
These advantages include greater psychosocial development, high retention and graduation rates, greater educational aspiration and greater satisfaction with their overall college experience, according to Housing and Residential Life director Carol Roberts-Corb.
“In other words, they grow more personally, make friends, stay in school, are more likely to graduate and are generally happier with their collegiate experience than their classmates who commute to school,” Roberts-Corb said.
Rangell agrees and said that living on campus has helped him become a better student.
“I’m more pushed to study,” Rangell said. “A lot of my friends in my suites, they all go to the library every day, so I always have someone to go with and a way to get there and I don’t have to worry about going out of my way.”
Residence Commons resident, Louis Fckutake, who is originally from Long Beach, decided to dorm at CSULB to be more accessible to campus resources.
“It was just more convenient to live here,” Fckutake said. “And I felt that I would have more direct access to campus, like the library and stuff, so I just wanted the college experience.”
His parents were supportive of his decision because they knew he’d be moving out to go to college regardless, but at least this way he’d be closer to home, he said.
“They supported it because they knew that that’s what I wanted all along,” Fckutake said.
Students also choose to live on campus because of convenience, accessibility to campus resources, friendships, study facilities and access to fun and educational activities, said Roberts-Corb.
“I’m able to get more out of the school, in general,” Rangell said. “It’s easier for me to participate in school events and be a part of the community here.”
RLC resident Lisette Martinez chose to live on campus because there are fewer distractions than back home with her parents.
“My parents will be like, ‘Let’s go run some errands’ and by the time we’re done, it’s 9 p.m. and I’m trying to do [homework] and it’s too late,” Martinez said.
Martinez said that living in the dorms gives her mental space and makes college a bigger part of life.
She said that she was able to live in the dorms because of the money she receives from financial aid — a main reason her parents supported the move.
“If I had to ask [my parents] for money, it would have been different,” Martinez said. “They probably would have been like, ‘No, you have to stay home,’ because I only live like 10 to 15 minutes away.”
Martinez said she likes that the dorms have allowed her to be on her own. She plans on getting an apartment next year, but wouldn’t mind living on campus again.
“I like it enough here that I would stay another year,” Martinez said.
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