The United States is home to many international students. At St. Thomas, there are over 500 students from different countries, and I am one of them. I came from Prague, Czech Republic.

I arrived on January 31, and as I started settling in, I couldn’t help but notice many differences I would have to face daily from now on. As I go on and learn about American culture and the life of a student in the U.S., I will share those differences with you.

To start this opinion series, I want to bring you with me to the very beginning.

After arriving at St. Thomas, I went straight to my room. That kicked off something I had never experienced before – living on campus.

To give you more context, back home, in Central Europe, I live in my own (rented) apartment. I am incredibly lucky to have an apartment in this location, as it is not super far from school. However, I still must commute to school.

Here, everything is easier. Everything is right here, under my nose. If I want to grab a bite, I have many options a few steps from my bed, and with the meal plans, you do not have to cook, ever.

If I want to go for a swim or practice yoga, all I need to do is go to the next building. To get to class, I do not have to take a bus, tram and subway, all I do is walk to another building again. That, in some ways, is just magnificent to me.

However, there are times when I feel as if I am in some kind of simulation: like it is not real. When I was younger, I used to play this video game, The Sims, where you take care of people in their little world. That is precisely the feeling I get while living on campus: as if someone were controlling me and I were in a virtual place in the middle of something real — and not able to get out.

Now, I do like my little Sims world here, but how will I get back to reality where I must commute, cook and just be so much more responsible?

I could not imagine finishing school, living the whole time in this simulation, and then having to go into the real world, having to deal with all the responsibilities that await. That, I can imagine, could be quite stressful for some people.

The difference here is obvious. Now I would say it is a pleasant change of pace, but as my time here shortens, I can feel the stress of going back and having to take care of myself again, pay bills and live on my own without the campus support system.

Surely, not everyone back home is living on their own during university years, but I feel like the responsibilities are bigger having a separate school life, work life, and home life. Surely not everyone here is living like this for the whole time.

On the other hand, as hard as it may be after university to go into the “real world,” I like the idea of this kind of student life. You get freedom but not that many responsibilities.

And to be honest, I really do enjoy this change because you get to wake up, thanks to no commute, and have time for a morning workout, breakfast, and even a little walk before class.

Isn’t it wonderful? I think so.

Daniela Kopřivová can be reached at kopr1448@stthomas.edu.