The Collegian

Issue date: 10/8/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Jan Wanek Seniors Mike Chalberg and Ben Thompson stand in front of Lake Baw Beese. The two are renting a property on the lake until their December graduation.

Hillsdale College students consider many factors when looking for off-campus housing. When comparing the cost, the environment and the quality of the house, most students find they must sacrifice one factor over another.

But some students have found well-kept, reasonably-priced houses on Lake Baw Beese.

Junior Bridget Myers, a resident on the lake, finds Baw Beese "breathtaking."

"In my house there is a wall of windows that face toward the lake," she said. "I wake up and it's gorgeous."

Baw Beese has sunrises and sunsets overlooking a picturesque setting of aquatic flora.

The Baw Beese scenic trail runs parallel to the lake, past old forests and diverse wildlife.

The water itself offers many recreational activities.

"We're really able to make great use of the lake," senior Josh Grabner said. "Our land- lord lets us use his jet skis with the boat. We snorkel, swim, fish…and romance the ladies."

Grabner, Ben Thompson and Kyle Weber are seniors who plan on graduating in December.
Needing a five-to-six month lease, they saw housing on Lake Baw Beese as unlikely but ideal.

"It was the only place we could find a six month lease," Thompson said. "That was the initial attraction."

Cost was another motivating factor.
"Rent is the cheapest I've ever had," Thompson said.

Myers was also looking for inexpensive living. She found her landlord snipped extra expenses she would have paid at other residences.

"I looked for other opportunities in Hillsdale," she said. "They were unfurnished with pretty high rent."

Myers marvels at how her lake house came completely furnished. In addition, she said, the previous owners left behind household items such as dining utensils.

"It's a nice house; not newly renovated, but nice," she said. "There is carpet on the floor and tile in the bathroom…the kitchen is really huge!"

The distance from campus poses a problem for some students.

"I enjoy the separation, but I wouldn't like it if I was younger," Thompson said. "It would have been a problem back when I when I was trying to get involved on campus."

Overall, Baw Beese students feel little negativity towards their lakeside housing. They said they enjoy their lake home as much as they did campus living.

"There's really nothing bad about it! I have no complaints - it's well kept," Grabner said.

Thompson agreed.

"I wouldn't be in any other place."

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