3 Years On Campus....Finally my own Apartment!

I got home to my apartment tonight after work and realized I was growing out. I lived on Drake's campus for 3 years and was happy with it.....most of the time.

Freshman year I lived with one roommate, Jenny, in a double in Herriott Hall (one of the halls being re-done as we speak). We were placed together at random as she was a business major and I was a pharmacy major. In my opinion being placed with a random roommate is better than rooming with your best friend from high school. I have heard too many horror stories of friends as roommates becoming enemies by the end of the first semester. Now do not get me wrong all roommates with struggle at times but getting to know new people and learning to live with others is essential. As essential as living on campus for a year or two when in college to get the true college experience. Jenny and I became best friends with each other and with the other people on our floor. I think for most people it happens on purpose and naturally that you often times share a unique bond with the individuals on your floor becuase you always see them and learn to love them. Plus Drake places you on floors with people in a common class called your FYS class, a special introductory Freshman class.

Anyway, Jenny and I got along so well my freshman year that we decided to live together our sophmore year in a double in Morehouse. That year we were both so busy that we barely saw each other, plus we were both making different friends, her in her sorority and I in all my activities. After a second year of being on campus most people are dying to get away.

I was in some sense ready to move in with other girlfriends off campus but the convenience of living on campus was overwhelming for my hectic college life. I also had not and still did not have a car on campus so living on campus just seemed logical. My junior year (P1 = Pharmacy year 1) I lived in a single room in Morehouse. It was great, like having your own place. I had lots of friends in the building but always had my single room when I needed my own space. I could role out of bed and into class, go back to my room for those 45min breaks between classes, and be there on the spot for meetings or activities, unlike my off campus friends who had to plan their days around when they could get to campus or where they would park. By the way, parking at Drake is a major problem that the school is supposedly working on, but has seen little to no progress. Anyway, I enjoyed the convenience of not having to worry about any utility bills, cable charges, or cleaning because it was done through the campus housing. However I was becoming sick of the food on campus. It rarely changes, is not near anything like 'mom's home cooking' and is even more limited for vegetarians like me. So you could imagine that by my third year of it, I had ENOUGH.

As junior year rolled to an end I decided I need to move off campus because I was going to need a place to stay while taking summer classes and wanted to grow up and out of campus life. Once again I was going to live with three of my friends in a house but decisions weren't being made and I was getting nervous as summer neared. So I decided to venture on my own and looked for apartments/ roommates for about 3 weeks.

I moved into my OWN apartment the weekend after finals! I was scared that I would be lonely but that has not happened yet. I LOVE IT! I am still getting used to all the space I have (big upgrade from a single dorm room to a HUGE apartment) and still do not have everything in its place yet. I think that will take the rest of the summer. I do not have lots of furniture but am slowly accumulating more from friends, other students and the store. The bills and rent suck when they come in the mail but they are cheaper than the dorms. The food is my own choosing and I still have location convenience because I live right across the street from campus. I spend no money on parking or gas which is amazing for me considering school is so damn expensive and gas prices are only going up.

Living on campus was never that bad but having your own place to call home and inviting people over to "my apartment" is an experience I have always wanted. So stop by "my apartment" when you are arond Drake, as I always have a couch available and a no needed flip-flop policy for the shower.