4 Ways Hostel Students Suffer in Nepal

Introduction

Hostel life is no doubt a great deal of hardships for any person, especially a student. I have been staying in a hostel from grade 6 to 12. Exactly for seven years. Away from my parents coping with the hostel environment and mixing up with my peers. We have our own problems. Problems we don't normally talk about in front of others. As time passes there are things that you get used to and some that you don't. Hostel still seemed like a symbol of making a child "disciplined" , "mannered" and "helping them" strictly but I myself being in hostel for this long period of time. I totally hate these beliefs.

A child (or any human being) doesn't deserve to be stressed like he/she is in hostel or life in my hostel life is too systematic, mechanical and even breathtaking in many moments. Making your children to be in hostel hoping it will make them better but it mostly backfires the parents returning a more selfish, feared, unconfident and even traumatized children (which has a different story on it’s own).
Here in this article I have listed the things I have to suffer from as a Hostel student in Nepal:

Homesickness:

Though it is not that much of a problem in the present time as I am used to being on my own but during my initial years (especially grade 6). I remember feeling homesick a lot. When you are in Grade Six living in a hostel, you miss your parents, your bed, the feeling of 'Home' and the flavour of meals your mom used to cook. You miss being you that isn’t conformed trying to be ‘cool’ among your friends or constant indirect pressure of getting judged. Homesickness is a big unjustifiable hardship that every hosteler goes through. It's only time that makes us able to show that we are ok with it.

Living in a different world:

I used to feel like I was living in a separate bubble. It felt like you are living in some other world, disconnected from the real world. You are unable to know what's happening outside of that bubble, you don't get updated regarding the contemporary events, trends, news etc… You even miss out from your own generation about how people of your own age are experiencing new styles, thoughts, songs or even problems that you miss out off. You feel trapped and always have a sense of curiosity and fear about how things are/will go outside those walls of your hostel.

Feeling of missing 'Normal Life':

It's not that we ignore all the problems that a student who goes to school and returns home at evening daily might face. But as a hosteler. I just wonder how it might feel to be a normal day school. Bet there won't be any special feeling once I get used to that lifestyle. Still I would like to know that feeling of school to home and home to school. Because I never got to experience it as a teenager. You feel like an uneven piece of this society (in a depressing way) where normal walking on streets, buying food or having a sense of going on normally in your life feels special and exciting.

Excessive peer influence:

Hostelers have to spend their whole day with their friends solely. And because of this we are influenced do the things (even if we personally don't want to) that our friends do. The influence of peers around us in our life is huge and due to this we tend to become just like people around us. We seemed to be resonating with their ideas, thoughts even if it’s wrong. There is a huge amount of conformant among friends as they are what you mostly have. Where sensitive and unique students have to suffer from loneliness and even bullying which is of course a big problem as a hosteler.

Conclusion

Yeah, It's of course a lot to go through living in a hostel but there are problems as a day scholar student that we don’t have to suffer from. Hostel life does contain a lot of moments that still warms my heart but it doesn’t justify how hurtful and bad it can just sometimes be, especially if you try to think individually. The lessons hostels teach us are important but they aren’t supposed to be taught in those ways (like we were taught). What we need is a little more love, a little more understanding of our individuality and a little more open skies and free walks with our friends. A bit more free handful of memories won’t hurt, will they?