Hostels are attached to big schools and colleges which draw students from far and wide. The hostels are generally situated near the schools or colleges to which they are attached.
Hostel life is a part and parcel of education. That is why in England, Oxford and Cambridge Universities are residential universities. There are numerous schools and colleges in America which are purely residential and do not admit day scholars.
Students learn as much from books and teachers as from one another. Book worms who live cut off from the company of fellow students miss the main purpose of education. Real learning and originality come from the play of mind upon mind. Hostel life is the surest way of eliciting the best in a young man.
Hostel life is very like a family life. In every hostel, there is a warden or a superintendent who is in-charge of all the students living there. He is, as it were, a father to the boarders. He looks after them and ministers to all their needs. In a hostel, the students live a corporate life which has a great educational value.
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The students manage their own affairs. They learn the first lessons in management and household economy. Hostel life teaches comradeship to the students. If a student falls ill, his fellow students attend on him and look after him in every way. They learn how to subordinate their self interest to the pursuit of common good.
A boarder is free from the cares and worries of family life. There are no quarrels of brothers and sisters, here there are no trivial domestic errands to be run, and no guests to be attended to. Within the hostel premises, all is peace and calm and the atmosphere is academic.
There are no distractions of home. In the hostel, all are students; each studies in imitation of others. A boarder enjoys a fuller and richer life. He leads an intellectual life. He establishes social contacts and thus develops his personality.
He becomes polished and cultured. He sheds his shyness. He learns to speak fluently with others. He learns how to act, move and behave in society. He acquires good manners and becomes a disciplined and good citizen.
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Hostel life has some disadvantages too. All strikes and indiscipline in the college are planned in the hostel. Poor students begin to imitate the luxurious ways of their rich companions. They become spendthrifts like them.
In spite of these disadvantages, hostel life is a boon for the students. It is a golden opportunity. One can take exercise in the open. One can play games. One can recreate oneself in the common room or listen to the radio. One has fixed hours of study, sleep and meals. One can make his career.