Is it possible to have two homes at the same time? For most Notre Dame students, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” The warm, all-encompassing community of Notre Dame creates a new home for all students who enter into its embrace. Yet the familiar atmosphere of one’s childhood home also retains a special magic. Many students find themselves torn between deciding which place they love more. To help them figure it out, here is a list of the pros and cons of each home.

Home

Pro: You get to see all of your family and friends again. You get to catch up on all the new stories and events and hear how everyone is doing.

Con: You have to listen to every single pointless story under the face of the sun. As amazing as it might sound, the fact that your Mom’s friend Becca just bought a new rice cooker is not actually all that interesting.

Pro: You do not have to worry about going to class or club meetings. You get to just relax and catch up on your pleasure reading.

Con: You forgot how boring life was in a town when events are not planned for you on a daily basis by SUB. Also, it turns out that reading is great, but it can be pretty hard to do when you have four siblings running around the house screaming all day.

Notre Dame

Pro: You have the freedom to do what you want, when you want. If you want to stay up late all night going to parties and spending time with friends, you can do that to your heart’s content.

Con: You do want to stay up all night, but it turns out that you would rather be watching reruns of Growing Pains than actually putting on pants and going out. And that whole freedom thing? Turns out when you do not have any parents telling you what to eat, you end up eating quite a lot of chocolate.

Pro: You are surrounded by people your age, many of whom share similar goals and dreams as you.

Con: You are surrounded by people who are technically your age, but whose maturity might be extremely questionable. As much fun as it sounds to jump into the lake in the middle of winter because your friends said it would be “super cool,” the rational side of your brain prefers not to get frostbite.

Pro: You do not have to wear a uniform like you did in high school, and you can choose whatever quirky outfit you desire.

Con: It turns out that doing laundry is really, really boring. So rather than wash your clothes three times a week, it’s a lot easier to just wear those same pair of jeans from ’03. Maybe living with the parents was not so bad after all.

If you are trying to decide which home you like best, just remember these pros and cons. When in doubt, just be happy that you have two places you can call home.

Declan Feeley is a junior theology and finance double major whose interests include writing and investment theory. Declan can be contacted by email at dfeeley@nd.edu.