Nine hundred feet. From my front door to the front door of RBD library, it's exactly 900 feet.
A rock thrown from my window would land on RBD's front lawn.
From my old window, a window at Copper Beech townhomes on Shelton Mill Road, a rock thrown out of my window would probably have just hit my car.
Copper Beech, like so many other far-off-campus apartments, is a big complex with large townhomes and spacious rooms, but being this close to campus is invaluable.
After a long night of studying, a 900-foot walk looks a lot better than a 10-minute drive.
Speaking of driving, my house's closeness to campus means my car pretty much stays put. Gas prices might have dropped, but my wallet is much heavier now than it ever was at Copper Beech.
Not only has my wallet benefited from the change, but so has my sleep schedule. The 10-minute drive from Copper Beech required me to get up approximately 15 minutes earlier than normal. Sleep and money are two things many college students lack, but living near campus has definitely made a change for me in both of those areas.
A student should live as close as they can to campus, but campus isn't the only thing close to my house. Downtown Auburn is also just a short walk away.
Understandably, people see the allure of the bigger apartments, but on weekends spent downtown, driving home could land them in jail.
Of course, there are other ways to get home. The transit system is a reliable option, but the options pretty much run out there. Taxis can be costly, and Uber, a cheaper alternative to taxis, suspended their services in Auburn. It's better to walk home from the bar than to drive.
I suppose it comes down to preference, but, for me at least, the many benefits of living close to campus far outweigh the few of living far away.
I can be anywhere I need to be on campus or around town within 10 minutes, my sleep schedule has grown and my wallet has taken a significantly smaller hit.
For a college kid, you really can't beat that.
David McKinney is the assistant sports editor at The Plainsman. He can be reached at sports@theplainsman.com.
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