I was lucky to have one of the few rooms with a controllable thermostat when in college
I had a fun experience in college going to a small liberal arts school in the same county as my hometown.
Some might have preferred getting farther away from home, but it made it easier for me to adjust because I was suddenly living in one of my favorite cities to visit and spend time in.
I also knew a lot of the roads and some of the fun places hidden around town that other students had yet to discover. This included everything from indulgent restaurants and diners to bars with lax ID rules regarding liquor sales. While it’s rare these days to find a bar willing to risk its liquor license on serving alcohol to minors, it was a lot more common than most people realize back when I was in college. Aside from having the advantage of knowing the city like the back of my hand, I also got really lucky with the specific dorm room that my roommate and I were assigned. Only a handful of the freshman dormitories were outfitted with controllable thermostats. Most of the HVAC thermostats in the various residence halls around campus were controlled by the administration or had lockboxes on them. It was great to have control over our air conditioner because we were able to keep it fairly cool in our room amid the hot temperatures outside. This school is located in the deep south so temperatures were often in the 80s or higher for a good portion of the year itself. We definitely utilized the air conditioner a lot more frequently than the heating system, but it’s not like the furnace went without any use during our time in school as freshmen in that particular dorm room.