Why staying in LA for college was the best decision I’ve ever made
From free laundry to weekly family meals – life couldn’t be better
There is a small voice in the back of many Southern Californian 12th graders that tell them that getting away from home for college is the best decision for them. The voice says “leave the year long 75 and sunny weather for the below 0 middle of nowhere college where you most likely don’t see sun for 3 months in a row.”
I, unlike many of my high school friends, didn’t listen to this voice. I write this article sitting on my couch, watching football with my Dad and that just shows how I am living the life.
When my friends from home question me about going to UCLA, I often get asked, “Why did you stay near home for college? Doesn’t that suck being so close to home?” I never fail to answer with the same response of “no it doesn’t suck because unlike you I am living the ideal situation. I get to sleep in my bed when I am dying of the freshman plague, never have to pay a quarter for laundry because I have free machines at home, and most importantly I get to hang out with my parents and of course my dogs whenever I want!”
Assuming I wouldn’t get into UCLA due to its competiveness, I became one of those 12th graders who wanted to go to the artic tundra aka the East Coast to get a new experience. However, once I was accepted, I knew I couldn’t turn down a chance to go to both my parents Alma Mater and be the 7th person in my family to attend UCLA.
I grew up a Bruin and now I will forever be a Bruin. Yes, that picture above is little Emma cheering at a UCLA football game. I never really believed that I too would end up at the place where my parents met, making UCLA close to my heart. While both my older brothers go/went to snowy East Coast schools, it was about time one of us stayed in sunny California and keep the UCLA tradition going.
Even if you don’t have my background of being born a Bruin, going to school in LA, my hometown, has many perks.
Living on campus is different experience compared to living at home
Just because I go to school less than 30 minutes from my home doesn’t mean that I am not an independent college student living in a dorm. I get the freshman experience by being in a dorm with 500 of my closest “peers.” I get to know what it’s like to live in a box with two other people and have no alone time ever. But the difference between me and people who aren’t from L.A. is that if I am fed up with my roommates or am super sick or just want my tempurpedic queen size bed or getting a nice clean shower it is awesome to have the ability to drive to my loving home and all that comes with it.
Paying $1.25 to wash and $1.50 to dry is not chill and fun fact it will never be chill
Since we are all broke ass college students, having to pay almost three dollars for just one load is not okay. Especially since we do more than one load because we wait as long as possible before you have to do laundry. That’s why going home not only saves me money but saves me from having to look for that last pair of clean underwear. I am not about to pay three dollars or more once a week for a gross moldy laundry machine (yes my floor machine has mold in it) so I rather just go home to nice clean machines that don’t take five hours to wash and dry.
There’s nothing better than your family’s kitchen
As much as I love B Plate and feel like I am eating in the last supper every time I go there because of how many plates I get, there is nothing better than my mom’s cooking. The quietness of the kitchen and the freshness of her ingredients put the B Plate dining experience to shame. Even if my Mom isn’t home, just being able to cook myself a home made meal that I am craving never fails to satisfy me. Since I am only a freshman and I lack a kitchen in my dorm, my favorite part about having a kitchen to cook in is being able to make whatever eggs I want in the morning. I get sick of the same egg white omelet with bacon, onions and spinach so sometimes Ya girl wants to mix it up and have a sunny side up egg or a hard boil egg that dining halls fail to provide.
Can’t forget those appointments
When making my list of pros and cons of choosing UCLA over Syracuse, minus Cuse being the snowiest college in American, another reason was my appointments. Being from here I don’t have to worry about finding a new eyebrow lady or a new doctor, which is a lot better than having to find a whole new eyebrow place or doctor when the freshman plague hits. Being a girl with naturally bushy eyebrows, I am a freak about who touches mine so I am not about to go to someone I don’t know, risking my eyebrows being messed up.
Instead I get to go to someone I trust and know. Also, instead of having to go to student health like the rest of UCLA, I can go to my doctor whose been my doctor for my whole life and feel comfortable talking about what is wrong with me today.
I get to actually see my family
My last and personally most important reason that I am happy I go to UCLA is to be able to share a sense of spirit with my family, but more specifcally my parents. We can all hang out and go to football games to cheer on our Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Or when I’m feeling like having a good meal out on the town that I clearly cannot afford by myself; they will take me out if they are feeling generous, which I can’t complain about. They make living away from home a lot easier because I have the ability to not get home sick and get hugs from my parents whenever I want them.
So it turns out being 21 miles away from home is awesome and I am happy to be like Miley Cyrus and live the best of both worlds at UCLA: my home life and my school life.