Rut..Mold University…
Richardson apartments located on Busch campus was built in 1979 and was designed to accommodate four students per apartment. Each 2-bedroom apartment comes with a full kitchen, bathroom, and living room space for four students to share. The Richardson apartments currently have about 528 students living in them. However, this past week, 528 students became 524 after four students were told they had to relocate. These mold-infested bathrooms and bedrooms suddenly became another problem for four students who already have to stay on top of their academics. They found themselves packing their belongings and moving out of the apartment during the most crucial time of the fall semester- midterm season.
These students just so happen to be me and my roommates. The serious of unfortunate events spiraled rather quickly. One morning there was a knock on the door with men with notepads asking to inspect the apartment. Shortly after their arrival, our living space was deemed unfit. One man joked and said, “How could you guys have been living here for so long? You should have moved out…. yesterday.” A joke to him but a nightmare to us.
For weeks, my roommates and I found ourselves becoming sick and we wondered why. We blamed it on the weather constantly changing, with it being summer one day and fall the next. Until one day, I finally noticed the real cause of our sickness, mold. It had been growing on the walls of our rooms and on the ceiling of our bathroom. Mold had suddenly become our fifth roommate and it seemed like it was taking over our apartment as each day progressed.
Mold growing in bedroom
Renovations being done to combat the mold
Mold growing in the bathroom
The mold wasn’t the only problem we were facing in the apartment. That just so happened to be one of many problems. Our bathroom was gross with a rusted tub, cracked tile, and a broken toilet. The kitchen stove was outdated and broken and was no longer connected to the wall as it originally was. Lastly, the carpets in each bedroom were in desperate need of shampooing or two.
Even with all of those problems it boiled down to the mold growing in our apartment that has made us move. We are currently living out of suitcases in our new “temporary” apartment. We simply don’t have time to unpack because we’re finding ourselves running to class, working, and having late night library study sessions. There is just not enough time in our day to get settled into the new place.
We were informed that the renovations in our apartment would only take a month. However, this timeline seems to be really inaccurate. There is an immense amount of work that needs to be done and a month just seems like too short of a time for it all to happen.
To top it all off, we are required to move back to Richardson once the renovations are done. Right now we are living in graduate housing as four undergraduate students. The new apartment is clean and we like it a lot. Yet, we can’t call it home just yet because we have to move back soon. Should we be forced to move our things once again because of the mistakes of the university? Is this fair to us? I think not.
This article was not made to bash Rutgers University but instead to shed light on the conditions of certain on-campus dorms and apartments. We pay far too much to have to deal with things like this during the school year, when such problems can be resolved throughout the summer with a simple check-in on rooms prior to move-in. I hope my situation is a learning experience for the university. What my roommates and I are currently going through shouldn’t happen to any more students.
Mold can pose severe health risks if exposed to it for too long. Check your walls often and make sure that if you do see any signs of mold to notify facilities ASAP. Living with mold is something that you don’t want to do because it can affect you tremendously especially if you have allergies and/or asthma!