Living in a fraternity house is much like being at an Auburn football game or any college stadium for that matter.
Like Jordan-Hare Stadium, my fraternity house could easily be described as beautiful and perhaps inspiring from the outside, but not so much on the inside.
And though the inside may not be as aesthetically pleasing, the people in it are typically great.
This is a key element to house living, and without them, your experience is ruined as a whole.
Constantly being around your friends is quite simply awesome.
Walking to the house after class, knowing at least a few of your buddies will be around to relax with you is a terrific feeling, and the positive ambiance this creates is almost contagious.
Countless fraternities have different amenities that make living in the house entertaining, ranging from pool tables to loudspeakers to basketball courts.
All of these things make house living down time unrivaled.
Walking outside to enjoy the property or playing pingpong really draws people in and often turns a two-man pool game into a big group of buddies relaxing and making plans.
Plus, with food coming out 12-15 times per week, it’s incredibly easy to walk to the kitchen to have hot food waiting for you. This kind of convenience is luxurious.
It’s difficult not to consider certain negative connotations that come with fraternity life, and indeed there are disadvantages to living in a large house with 10 or so 20-year-olds.
One argument is it can be messy or not clean enough to live in.
As old as some houses are, every dirty house seems to be impervious to a good cleaning.
Not only do house-dwellers use and live in the house, all other fraternity members use it as well.
It’s not hard to collaborate on a good time to meet and clean the house, and it is a vital tool to make house living that much more enjoyable.
Another worry can be finding a place to study or getting sleep. Personally, studying in your bedroom is tough, if not impossible.
A good alternative is to go to the fraternity house library or the house study.
Many fraternities have this feature, but if yours doesn’t or if the house library is too crowded, then simply go to Auburn’s library. As packed as RBD can get, there is almost always a place to go, and it is seemingly the easiest place to finish homework.
As for sleeping, it’s almost inevitable a good night of sleep will elude you unless you remove yourself completely from your friends.
And that’s not just for people in fraternity houses.
Everyone struggles to sleep well.
That being said, goofing around at 2 a.m. with your friends is much more fun than being in your apartment watching a movie by yourself.
Assuming you’re going to forfeit your beauty sleep — which you most likely will — it might as well be for the right reasons.
It would seem like class, physical health and getting things done would be unattainable with so many different activities constantly going on around you.
However, with self-discipline, it’s not impossible to find structure in your life by simply removing yourself and going to the rec, library, et cetera.
You only get four years in college, so take advantage of this hallowed time.
Don’t let youth be wasted on the young. Live in the house. You will not regret it.
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