Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Alexandra Mosquera Netzkarsch / Columnist
bbc@fiusm.com
Moving out of your parents’ house and into on-campus or off-campus housing has its pros and cons. And moving in with roommates is an experience that will shape a college student in many ways.
I moved out of my parents’ home over four years ago when I was 19 years old, which was not an easy task.
Life challenges you in many ways when starting college, even more so when you move to a new place where you don’t know anybody. Things can get scary when sharing your new home with total strangers.
You have to be prepared to share the kitchen and all the appliances, so if you want to make lunch or dinner and someone is using them, you are simply going to have to wait for them to finish. It get frustrated when dirty dishes were left in the kitchen sink. I couldn’t understand why some people would not just wash what they used, rather than letting it sit for a week.
When I first moved out from home into an apartment in Cupertino, California, I lived with a couple who were in their forties and a student from the same school I was attending. They were very respectful regarding the use of the T.V. and kitchen. When my roommate or I were watching a movie or sports, they would have no problem with watching T.V. in their room instead of making us switch the channel. The kitchen was spotless and I was free to use everything from pots and pans, to spices in the cupboard.
The other student, a guy from Colorado, wasn’t as tidy. Not only would he leave the kitchen dirty, but once when he showed me his room, and I was so relieved I didn’t have to room with him because it looked like a bomb of clothes exploded in there.
I didn’t have to worry about paying for any kitchen appliances or the T.V. when I first moved from home, which is the brightside of sharing a space with strangers. I was on a budget and couldn’t afford those things at the time. So although having roommates meant I needed to share everything, it also made having those things possible.
The shared spaces, like the living room and kitchen, presented a slight challenge after being used to how things worked at home with my family. However, humans have the ability to adjust.
My current roommates have no problem with me having friends or study groups over, or even hosting small get-togethers on the weekends. But I adjusted to them watching T.V. at certain times that might not be very convenient for me because of the noise. I have found that talking to each other and coming to a compromise helped us avoid arguments.
You don’t always get to pick who you room with — you kind of have to take what you can get. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t.
I have lived with random people and with one of my best friends at some point. All of these people offered some great experiences that made me the person I am today. The positive and negative moments go hand-in-hand in life, and I am slowly realizing that people chose whether to let those experiences affect them in a negative way.
These lessons will help you figure out who you are as an individual. Living with roommates will put you in situations you never experienced when living at home with your family. These situations will help you acquire valuable people skills that could potentially land you a job to support you living on your own one day.
Check for a new Straight-Up Alex by Alexandra Mosquera Netzkarsch every Wednesday.
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