The 4 stages of Living in an Apartment in College

By Jessica Greathouse

The first apartment I lived in was a pit, where the heat hardly worked and the oven ironically, overheated. There are some things that your parents cannot prepare you for, and the inevitable reality that you are a grown person paying rent is one of those things. The rite of passage commonly known as apartment life goes by in a couple of stages:

1. Excitement
   Oh my god. There is a fridge! This year you will make your own food. No more cafeteria food, you will be gourmet. No matter that the only thing you know how to make is spaghetti; you’ve even managed to convince yourself you like it undercooked. You can learn. You will learn. You are attending school, what’s one more thing to learn? This year, you’re living with someone you chose. You can shop for decorations together; have slumber parties every night, and who could forget about wine Wednesdays? Your head is afloat; you think you will never come down. This apartment, right here, although it might be a little shabby, will make all your problems go away, how could it not? It is a tiny plot of freedom, not encompassed by the overwhelming shadow of your parents or the dark lands of dorm community bathrooms.
2. Denial
   You are still really excited about this, right? There aren’t that many dishes and that casserole you made last night kind of tasted like something your mom made once… Kind of. But at least you got to decorate everything. Except for the fact that you and your roommate got too busy to shop for decorations. That doesn’t bug you though; the apartment could still pass for looking good. Good isn’t the word. Decent. It’s decent in here. People probably won’t even notice the inherent tornado of a mess that your roommate leaves in her wake. You really don’t even mind your roommate’s new boyfriend. He says hello sometimes. The walls aren’t even really that thin. Sometimes, when you lie awake at night, you convince yourself you can’t hear their nightly activities. The noises are probably coming from out the window. This is still going great… Yeah. Great.
3. Breakdown
   There is too much to do! Why would you live here? Make your own food? What are you, insane? You can’t even make pasta. Pasta. Even an idiot can make pasta, yet you set off the fire alarm every time. There is nothing to burn with pasta. You should probably apply for some sort of reality show about people with special talents. Because honestly, not a single person ever has burnt pasta. Wow, what a skill. School didn’t prepare you for this. Neither did you parents. Why didn’t they make you learn how to cook? This is outrageous. There is a stain from the mac and cheese that your roommate made a week ago on the counter that probably won’t come off if you try. Not that you’ve tried. Homework is piling up;you don’t have time for this! Why is there hair embedded in the carpet? You cannot possibly lose that much hair. It has to be some sort of condition. What if you’re dying? Oh god, this is the end. Just when control has been momentarily regained, an emotional grip regained on the crumbling disaster that is your life, the thin walls betray the intent behind your roommate and her boyfriend’s sheepish walk to her room. All control has been lost; you drop to your knees amidst the garbage; the tears running rampant, raise your hands into the hair and scream “PORQUUUUEEEEE?!?!?!”
4. Acceptance
   There is nothing you can do. The mess is beyond control and you have fifteen minutes to turn in the biggest paper of your life. Priorities. There is no time to clean. How can your roommate expect that of you? Do they not know you’re busy? The mac and cheese stain is still there but you have come up with an efficient system on how to avoid it. The trash has been piling up, but that’s okay because you become accustomed to the scent after a couple of minutes of entering the apartment. You look at the pile of recycling you were supposed to take to the recycling center a week ago. Who even cares about the earth anymore? Do we even need to recycle? You look around at what now has become your life with nothing but acceptance. This is how you live. It seems you are certainly a little less adjusted to living on your own than your parents but that’s okay. Welcome to adulthood. Enjoy your stay.

The realities of adulthood hit you for the first time really living alone. The safety net made out of your parent’s monetary assets, love, and ability to clean and cook for you is gone. That doesn’t mean that moving out and living in an apartment isn’t worth it, it just means it’s different. It is wonderful and horrible, but you find yourself. Despite the numerous obstacles that accompany living in an apartment, you wouldn’t go back if you could. Welcome to adulthood. Enjoy your stay.

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