Mohammad Bayezid, a resident of Salimullah Muslim Hall, went through a paradigm shift in his life when he moved from his hometown Cox's Bazar to pursue honours in anthropology at Dhaka University. He is ready to accept the benefits of living on campus which encompasses a dynamic spectrum.
"Strolling through the hall field while soaking in the fresh, cold morning breeze offers a fresh start to my day before going to classes. This helps a lot to reduce transportation costs. Another important thing is I have the luxury of not being worried about load-shedding. If I lived outside a hall, a significant portion of my mind would be prisoned because of this tension."
Even though hall life provides an environment where we can nurture ourselves, there loom different problems. Such as facing challenges regarding accommodation and poor quality of food.
"Allotment problem is at the forefront as students remain on the waitlist for at least one or two years. Our halls provide a student-friendly food price. It can be possible to have a budget meal that cost under Tk 50, but the hygiene is not well maintained, and the quality of the food is low-graded. Besides, there lacks an appropriate amount of supply of medicines in the halls. We have only one doctor for halls but most of the time we seek refuge at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. 
There seems to be a significant lacking in the role of university medical authority," he remarks.
Faiyaz Mahi, a third-year student of International Relations at Bangladesh University of Professionals is a resident of BUP hall. He echoes Bayezid while illustrating how the mutual understanding between the seniors and juniors can build a community where learning and living occur simultaneously. By remaining in the hall, students can meet people outside of their own classroom which stitches a broader social fabric. "We arrange a lot of fun activities which refresh our minds with pure joy. Muri party is one of our traditions where we sing at the top of our lungs or gossip. Because of a cooperative environment, you can always ask for any kind of help from your fellow hallmates. This ranges from borrowing a shirt, pants, or whatever you need for any presentations or functions to extending a helping hand to resolve someone's financial problems."
Faiyaz reflects that this sense of camaraderie also becomes visible if anyone falls sick. There are always people around to take that person to the hospital or support them emotionally. Because of these reasons, he thinks that hall life is a 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience.
Zinnatunnesa Nishi, an anthropology student in the 2018-2019 session, sums up her experience as a resident of Shamsun Nahar Hall in Dhaka University. "We have fun and the bonding we develop goes a long way in making our university life a fulfilling one. One such instance is during Ramadan when we go through a difficult time in conquering homesickness, having iftar with hall mates in the hall field furnishes us with a much-needed respite."
For her, hall life can be termed as the best part of student life as it is adorned with features like arranging picnics, gossiping or playful activities like stealing fruits together. She emphasises the importance of having friendly seniors. "Senior students of hall play an important role in keeping the homesickness at bay. It feels like having elder sisters. One of my seniors also managed tuition for me which helped in terms of my financial independence as well as personal growth. Overall, by staying in a hall, you may spend less time with your family, but we get mental and emotional support from people around us in hall life which makes it bearable for us to live outside the comfort of our own home."
Sanghita Dev is a second-year physics student at Chittagong University. As a resident of Janonetri Sheikh Hasina Hall, she mentions that hall life provides resplendent opportunities for self-improvement. "Adjustment capabilities with people become enhanced. When I used to live in the comfort of my home, I had no worries about tracking my finances. But now, I have a sense of money management which enables me to spend money wisely. Besides, cultural activities like intra debate competitions arranged by hall debating clubs, and sports day help us to gain broad, multi-faceted knowledge across several disciplines."
She also sheds light on how it is affordable to live in halls. "If we do one or two tuitions, we can manage our own expenses. Financial independence, coupled with strong security measures can be found here. The last shuttle train arrives at 8.30 pm-9.20pm which helps us a lot as many students do tuition in the city. If we arrive late, we note reasons in a registrar diary why we were late. This check and balance wrap the students with a blanket of security." Sanghita comes forward with a different perspective than Bayezid regarding the hall's medical facilities. She explains that the 24/7 emergency medical care services are equipped to provide acute care for patients with any kind of illnesses or injuries.
Mahira Priya, an accounting and information systems student at Cumilla University, is a Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani Hall resident. She believes that hall life drives people to sculpt themselves. "Having qualified seniors along with a special reading room creates an environment that bejewels us with valuable information and guidelines to navigate for a better future." According to her, the dimensions of problems include lack of access to healthy food as well as sharing beds with another person as hall seats are limited compared to student numbers.
She shares that living away from home presents a gloomy chapter as adapting to a new environment or food habits often makes a person feel alienated. "Everything must be done by oneself, from minor tasks like washing clothing to more serious ones like visiting a doctor. Even if they are not essential issues, the capacity to completely control one's life necessitates a certain level of maturity. Hall life motivates us to achieve this."
In a nutshell, hall life is an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone, learn outside the classrooms, rehearse, and get yourself prepared for the future along with providing irreplaceable experiences to fill up your pages.
The writer is a student at the department of International Relations at Bangladesh University of Professionals.
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