Many college towns have a part of their community designated for students, such as "Dinkytown" at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Duluth is not one of those communities. College students who live off-campus here are scattered throughout the city. Like almost any situation in life, this has its positives and negatives.
Some Duluthians assume that if college students move in next door, the house will automatically be the location of many loud, underage drinking parties. This stereotype has its truths, but I would like to tell about my experience living off campus to try to remove the negative connotation that may come with college students as neighbors.
I lived on campus my first two years of college and loved it. It was comfortable, convenient and fun to be close to friends. In the middle of my sophomore year, my roommates and I decided to live off-campus our junior year; we wanted more independence and a place to really call our own. We found a house to rent close to campus and have now lived there for more than a year.
We value our home just as everyone else does. With a house come responsibilities we didn't have on campus. We have to remember to take the garbage out every Tuesday night and to pay our utilities and rent. No Residential Advisor comes along every December to make sure our place is clean before we leave for Christmas break. It's all up to us.
We have jobs, homework, and busy schedules. I am
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student-teaching full-time at Congdon Elementary and am out the door by 7:15 a.m. every weekday. All four of my roommates have internships. We work all day, come home, make dinner and try to get everything accomplished that we need to. We're just like you. We are on our way to becoming adults, and we don't want to be a nuisance.
Neighbors can watch out for each other; everyone wants to feel safe in their own home. I encourage building relationships among neighbors and working together to keep Duluth a safe and great place to live.
The idea of a Dinkytown model in Duluth has been brought up before. College students would love it. But in the meantime, we all might as well make the best of the situation. It's not a one-way street: Both college students and Duluthians have the ability to make this intermingling of generations a peaceful one.
Say "hi" to neighbors next time you see them, no matter who they are.
Anna Johnson lives off-campus as a senior at the College of St. Scholastica working toward an elementary education degree.
