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UCLA | Life > Experiences

Moving from the Dorms to Apartment Living: The Ghost in My Apartment

Ariana Lashgari Student Contributor, University of California - Los Angeles
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCLA chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Living in the dorms is a quintessential part of the college experience, but moving into your first apartment might be an even bigger step. Trading your RA for a landlord and the dining halls for a microwave may not sound appealing, but the freedom living off campus affords you draws many students to off campus housing. This quarter, I moved into a one bedroom apartment with my two roommates, and despite the trials of the adjustment period it already feels like home. We even have our own ghost!

Two Ghosts Standing in Front of a Brick Wall
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

The first thing you’ll want to do when you move into your first apartment is decorate. Forget the practicality of moving your dream couch up six flights of stairs, it’s worth it to have the apartment of your Pinterest board dreams. Get ready to become a pro at building amazon furniture like I did. We spent days deciding decor, but the ghost keeps taking our posters down (nothing sticks to the walls), so he must not like our style.

At first, I thought our ghost was friendly, but he keeps breaking things. A mysterious liquid started oozing from our fridge and the sink has leaked so much our kitchen is basically a swamp. Good thing we’re becoming friends with the maintenance guy, but not even he can protect us when the ghost gets angry. Make sure you keep your ghost happy, or he’ll explode water out of your sink’s air gap, attacking you when you least expect it like ours did to me. 

Chopping Boards Near Oven Under Hood
Dmitry Zvolskiy / Pexels

Don’t worry though! We are repairing our apartment-ghost relations. In order to do this my roommates like to leave scraps of food on the counter or dirty dishes out, as an offering, I think. Cooking has never been my stong point, so I’ve mostly been making microwave meals. This unfortunately renders me unable to leave offerings for the ghost, but I think he understands.

So, if you’re planning on making a move out of the dorms just make sure to beware of apartment ghosts. Adjusting to apartment living may present some unique challenges, but once you get to have your first birthday party for your roommate or host your first movie night all the extra work is worth it. I do miss the dining halls though.

Ariana Lashgari

UCLA '27

Ariana is a third-year Political Science major and Community Engagement and Social Change minor at UCLA from San Diego, California. She enjoys long walks on the beach, watching trending shows, and trying new food wherever she can. Outside of HER Campus, she is involved with the Persian Society for Community outreach as well as UCLA’s pre-law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta.