Imagine living in a house without mold, bed bugs, humidity, and nosy neighbors. That is exactly what our life has been for the past three months — and we did it without breaking our wallets. Now every time we go to Everett’s, we don’t get Svedka; we get Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire, and make espresso martinis. You start noticing small things, like how much the coffee at DK’s sucks, and how much you miss showering without shower slippers. Okay, maybe we started off with too much bragging. Let us rewind a bit.
It all started with a very vague idea at Hamilton’s when we found a beautiful house with a mean old landlord. Although that idea died pretty quick, we all went to our humid cardboard box-sized dorms and were up all night thinking about it, while staring at the centipedes and bugs. We thought to ourselves, what could possibly go wrong with having a functioning AC, and clean toilets? And at that point, we and three of our friends decided that we were gonna shoot our shot.
Of course, no sensible human being would move into a house without having a house tour first. So we did, and we absolutely adored the house. As soon as we came back, Armita, being who she is, immediately made a spreadsheet of household chores, before we’d even finalized the deal (lol). Making that spreadsheet, we realised that on top of the rent, we have a million other responsibilities, like who would mow the lawn, how much we would pay for gas and water, who would take care of the trash, and so on. Nevertheless, even considering the maximum amount for each section, we would still be saving buckloads of money, and our Wi-Fi wouldn’t suck. When you make $10.16 an hour, you start taking walks in the neighbourhood, hoping for a free couch, and a TV stand (don’t tell the landlord).
A part of living off campus comes with its own share of freedom. We don’t have someone to tell us to be quiet after 10 p.m., we don’t have someone who tells us not to party and to smoke 15 feet away from the buildings. We can invite whoever we want, whenever we want, even after 11 p.m. (wink). We don’t have to attend floor meetings or be disgusted by the state of the bathroom as soon as we wake up. We don’t have to fight other people for parking, we don’t have to wait for someone to finish cooking so we can use the kitchen, and our stuff doesn’t get stolen from the fridge anymore.
That being said, we did learn our fair share of throwing a party and inviting around 30 people. The first week of classes, we threw a housewarming party, and oh boy was it fun and scary at the same time. People were only allowed to enter the party if they took a shot of Bacardi at the door, which had been sitting under sunlight for a couple of months. What started as “omg, this is such a cute house!” ended as “sorry for clogging your bathroom, I gotta go.” We really think there was something wrong with the Bacardi… Respect to fraternities for the parties they throw cause hell nah, we are not doing that again.
Now, three months into living with our friends in our beautiful home, we are happier and more peaceful than ever. We have found the closest path to the Science Center, we leave for class together, and we hold each other accountable for not skipping class. We watch movies while trying different Ninja Creami recipes. We argue about whose turn it is to clean the ashtray and go to Woodman’s to try a new coffee flavour every week. Although we might not have brunch with our friends at Hamilton’s anymore (RIP powdered eggs and dry sausage), we still get to hang out with them whenever we want and do whatever we desire.
Featured image: Betty Cavicchia’28
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