The Unwritten Rules of a College Kitchen

The college kitchen, a place of horror or wonder depending on your living situation, mainly your roommates. Living in Isla Vista comes with many difficulties that most other college students don’t experience. What we gain with beautiful beaches minutes away from our doorstep, we sacrifice in limited space and a surplus of roommates. 

Living with 7 people, myself included, and a hallway-sized kitchen has brought many challenges, particularly learning to navigate other people’s habits. Coming home after a long day of classes to a Jenga tower of dirty pots and pans on the stove or having to send a passive-aggressive text in the group chat reminding everyone for the hundredth time to please use the dishwasher instead of leaving piles of dishes in the sink is a harsh reality of a communal kitchen. 

Seven Roommates, One Stove

Even with the amazing roommates I’ve been blessed with this year, sharing a kitchen with six other people is still an unpredictable experience. With so many different habits and personalities sharing the same space, you never really know what you’re going to find. Walking into the kitchen to discover that two of your roommates are on a health kick and have decided to try making beef gelatin is at the top of the list. 

But mundane chaos is expected when such a small space is shared among so many people. Simply trying to make pasta in peace is usually impossible when three other roommates have also decided that 6:30 is the perfect time for dinner, leaving the four of you to navigate your 6×8 kitchen at the same time. 

After a while you get used to the disorder, learning to move around such a small space at the same time and begin to move around each other without much thought. Although everyone is making different things and using separate ingredients, it becomes a sort of silent conversation. Without saying much, everyone seems to know when to move aside or make room for someone else. Everyone is trying to stay out of the way while simultaneously reaching around each other for utensils and dishes stored in the cabinets. 

Part of the chaos comes from the kitchen being both an individual and communal space. Everyone uses the same stove and plates, but their own bread. The fridge might be the greatest example of the disarray. While the communal butter has been gone for days, there are seven different kinds of milk in the fridge: coconut, almond, 2%, and seemingly every other possibility imaginable. Everyone’s food, mainly leftovers that have been sitting there for a questionable amount of time, is stacked on top of each other in whatever space is available.

More Than Just a Place To Cook

Somewhere along the way, the kitchen has become an unexpected place for roommates to gather and socialize. Unlike the living room and dye table, where we intentionally go to hangout and socialize, the kitchen has become a place where conversations happen naturally. Making dinner is practically an invitation for conversation, as running into a roommate is almost inevitable. Whether they’re doing homework at the kitchen table or also trying to make dinner, there’s usually always someone to talk to. But conversation isn’t the only thing shared in the kitchen.

Everyone has their own groceries with their initials written in Sharpie on them, yet sharing food has become another essential part of living together. Sometimes that generosity comes right when you need it to. One day, I was coming home from class and the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner. I already had DoorDash pulled up by the time I got home. However, my roommate’s boyfriend was trying a new pasta recipe and had decided to make enough for everyone. All I had to do was socialize while they cooked and help with the dishes afterwards. A pretty good trade if you ask me. 

• communal
• house
• kitchen
• roommates