State News reporter enjoys solitude

Certain liberties are granted to college students when they move away from home. Privileges students have always dreamt about are commonplace — late nights with no curfews or check-in times, drinking beer at will or bringing your significant other back to “your place.”

These initial thrills of living on your own eventually fade. When this happens, you might need to take a moment to appreciate the finer points of independent living that are often taken for granted.

Such as:

Standing with the fridge open

Although a small right to gain, being able to stand in front of the refrigerator for an unlimited amount of time is very satisfying. Admittedly, the contents of my fridge usually only consist of a half-empty carton of soy milk, leftover Chinese food from Rice Kitchen and a piece or two of anonymous fruit. However, being able to peruse the selection with great leisure and without being reminded of the wasted energy or escaping temperature is a gratifying experience.

Coed parties anytime

In the pre-college days, it seemed only milestone events such as birthdays or graduations warranted these boy-girl get-togethers. Now, virtually any excuse will do to invite a group of friends over. At any hour of any day of the week lurks the potential for celebration. Presidents’ Day, the end of midterms or even having a good hair day are all viable reasons to invite people over.

Authority of the remote control

Things like cartoons, made-for-TV movies and marathons of syndicated sitcoms should only be interrupted in cases of extreme emergency. Living away from home turns the average 20-something into the reigning emperor of the TV set. Don’t want to watch “Dr. Phil” or the local evening weatherman? No problem — in the kingdom of your own living room, you can exercise dominance over the remote by channel surfing right past.

“Under my roof, you obey my rules”

People living in the dorms might not have had an opportunity for this yet. A move to an off-campus residence — especially a house — allows this phrase to be invoked ad nauseam.

Attempting to exert authority over your roommates, however, might not be very successful if you each pay equal amounts of rent. Try saying it to pets, household insects or any inanimate object found around the house.

If you come home from class or work frustrated and exhausted, yelling this age-old phrase gives you a sense of control and empowerment.

Avoidance of any acquaintances from the past

Hometowns have an abundance of people waiting to ask you how you’ve been doing, what you are studying in school and what your plans are for the future.

They will corner you at the grocery store, on the street or just about anywhere.

On your own, you will no longer dread the endless small talk.

No embarrassing photos

Parents save things — mementos like childhood photos hang on the wall or sit on the shelf for decades.

Living at home means guests can casually browse embarrassing baby snapshots, grade-school class photos and an extensive documentation of your awkward stages.

On your own, though, embarrassing photos are limited to the worldwide network on Facebook.com.

Wait — is this really better?

Published on Sunday, January 27, 2008