The first conundrum that confronts a medico; the most prevalent doubt that every freshly enrolled doctor to be has is whether to stay as a day scholar or to be a hosteller. If you’re still undecided, we’ve broken down the benefits and drawbacks for you.
N.B. These are the views of a day scholar for over 3 years now (not to let that cloud your decision).
Let’s start with the benefits in the life of being a day scholar:
- Being a day scholar in a medical college: that’s an unspoken privilege. You get freedom like never ever in school especially after cracking NEET to get into the college first place. You know the locality all good coffee shops in 2-mile radius. So, if you really need that fresh brew strong coffee from your favourite shop after that long tedious lecture you know where to go.
- Home sickness: well, there goes that. Even if you are renting a room by yourself, it’s quite manageable. No nostalgia randomly hitting you at midnight to go home.
- Unlike hostellers, who must plan ahead of time, get tickets, and arrive at the location after long travels, you will never miss a family event.
- Few colleges have hostel curfews preventing wards to stay out of campus which you are not bound to if you are a day scholar.
- No peer pressure although hostel-life is where most fun happens. You need not essentially follow your roommates study schedule or sleep schedule.
- If you are a person who likes to keep it to yourself, then hostel is not something suitable for you. Everything that happens in your room reaches the whole block in a matter of minutes. Privacy is a luxury for a hosteller.
- Your own cave to study. You can customise your room in any way you wish to enabling you to focus more (maybe an air conditioner). You cannot perform great in a disturbing environment. Hostellers often need to rush to library which in turn can be quite tiring to find a peaceful spot.
- Home-made food is relatively healthier than any hostel mess food. You don’t have to suffer from food poisoning epidemics from hostel mess.
- Quality time with the family. Sharing college experiences with your family on a regular basis can be amusing and build communication. Having your family at your side is extremely beneficial if you get sick frequently or suffer from a chronic illness.
- Most Government college hostels lack laundry within premises which ends up taking quite an extra bite off your time schedule.
- If you find yourself caught in a problem (not like the ones portrayed in movies: they don’t happen in a medical college) especially nowadays when violence against doctors is increasing quite rapidly, being a day scholar could be quite an advantage. Every fourth person you meet could be a friend of your friend of your friend or family. They could be on your side and provide support.
- Hygienic toilets at home. You don’t have to wait in long lines if your hostel has inadequate washrooms. Nothing more peaceful than taking a good dump at home.
- Group studies, sleepovers, movie night at a friend’s, mom’s evening snacks, Sunday specials are some stuffs you miss being a hosteller.
And now the missing stuffs in the life of being a day scholar:
- Hostellers learn to adjust and adapt to any situation quicker than a day scholar
- Extensive SENIOR- JUNIOR INTERACTION: you can wake a senior to clarify your doubts almost instantly while it is not possible if you are a day scholar. Also, in a medical college a healthy senior junior relationship is needed since you always have those arms to run into to clarify your doubts.
- Better engagement with friends. Late night chit-chats, gossips, horror stories, crush stories are the mainstream entertainment at hostel.
- No need to wake early or worry about traffic and transportation. If you are a hosteller waking up 30 mins before class, believe me, there is almost a zero chance that you are getting into trouble.
- Cautious of bringing manuals/ books/ files to college. If you are a hosteller, you can quite easily sneak back to your room and be done with it, which is not possible for a day scholar.
- Better participation in college events and fests since you need to stay late night for practices which could be a deal for a day scholar to convince parents at home. Most day scholars end up being the audience for this reason.
- You get to know the campus well if you are a hosteller, since roaming around is a fun thing to do at night. They know the best coffee points within the campus better than a day scholar.
- Birthday parties at hostel are the best except for the birthday guy. Still, it’s fun to have your friends sing “Happy Birthday” at 12a.m. and to have a cake smashed into your face.
- More independence than a day scholar counterpart. Even too much family time can be tiring sometimes. You learn to make better decisions being away from guardianship.
- Better practical knowledge (almost all hostels have every bone), access to library, co-study, completing group assignments etc. are something you could miss as a day scholar.
Conclusion
Being a day scholar is both a privilege and a trial. If you are looking forward to enjoy 5 years or can concentrate better when you are alone, the decision is up to you make. Happy to have tried my best to enlighten you.
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