I’ve heard many Trinity students complain about the rule demanding that students live on campus for three years, but I haven’t yet heard an argument valid enough to convince me that living on campus isn’t just the best.

When will there be any other time in your life, when you will be able to live that close to so many of your friends? When else will all your day’s destinations be in walking distance? It’s a privilege disguised as a struggle.

With that mindset, I wasn’t particularly keen to live off campus as a senior this year. It’s just another foot out the door of the safe and familiar Trinity bubble and into the large unkind world of adulthood.

My first criteria was that it had to be in walking distance of Trinity “” which is not easy to find, but crucial. Secondly, I prefered to live among other students to the extent that off-campus living allows. Luckily, I was able to fulfill both at Rosemont at Olmos Park. It’s actually takes half the time to get to Chapman from my apartment than it does from Thomas Hall. It’s a very pleasant walk surrounded by large historic homes and large sprawling lawns down Rosewood Street to get to class.

I’ve seen other seniors turn into commuters. They drive from their house/apartment to class and then go home. There is nothing wrong with that inherently, it allows for time to go home and study, relax or even take on a part-time job.

But I’m of the opinion that these years we spend in college, in particularly this last one, must be savored.

I usually walk to school in the morning, then walk home when I’m done with class and then walk back to school in the evening for any extra-curricular I have going on. Because it’s only a 10 to 15 minute walk, it’s almost faster than driving, which requires finding parking.

Because I live so close, having friends come over isn’t a big deal either because they walk from  campus; visa versa if I’d like to visit a friend on campus. I’m more connected, and that’s important.

The golden hour is a term used in photography to describe the hour right before the sun sets that accentuates perfect light. An elongated metaphor I’ve entertained is as follows. If the sun’s cycle through the sky during the day represents an experience “” in this case, college, then the end of it is the golden hour. The middle, sophomore and junior year is when the sun is highest in the sky, burning bright and glaring down on you. In the beginning is the cold sun rise, quickly changing. The very end is the golden hour, the perfect lighting. But the golden hour is always fleeting. Perfect for only a short amount of time that, for photographers, is vital to take advantage of. That is the way I see the period of time leading up to graduation.

To sum things up, if you’re looking for off-campus housing, there’s nothing I’d recommend more than living in walking distance of Trinity. If you’re still living on campus, don’t take it for granted. Even if you’re living in a room with a dirty carpet, a nocturnal roommate or a constant mystery smell, those aren’t the things you’ll remember in ten years. You’ll remember walking in your socks to a friend’s dorm. You’ll remember having long conversations in the bathroom that connects your room to your suitemates’. And if you’re still not feeling it, remember that Trinity has some of the nicest dorms in the country and stop complaining.