Finals are coming soon, then summer, and before you know it, back to school again. When coming back to school, the important question of where to live comes about. Should you live in the dorms? Live in an apartment? Live by yourself?
Many people know where they want to live. Some are content with how they lived this year and plan to room with the same people, while others will change it up a bit.
Shelby Corrigan, junior, moved in with her boyfriend and four other people earlier this year. The main idea was to save money by having six people living in a two bedroom apartment.
“I think realistically it is a good idea to live with people to save money,” said Corrigan. “I save 385 dollars a month now.”
This might sound good when figuring out how much money a person will save each month where there are so many people and yet that may also be the problem; too many people.
“The apartment is never clean, whether it be trash or dishes or the bathroom. Sharing a bathroom with three guys is not the most clean option,” said Corrigan.
She loves being with her boyfriend every day, but the constant presence of four other people poses a problem. Corrigan said if she was to choose again, she is not sure if she would opt for the same living arrangement.
Nicole Ignowski, senior, lives with her boyfriend like Corrigan, but it’s just the two of them in an apartment.
“For me, I think I made a great decision to move in with Shawn. I know I am a gossip, and while living with a group of females, there was constant gossiping and drama… As much as it was fun to have girls to hang out with at all the time, and different clothes and make-up to share etc., it was just a lot of drama. Some girls can handle it, and love living with other females… sorority girls for example. But I know that living situation just isn’t the ideal for me,” said Ignowski.
Ignowski said that the first month of living together was the most difficult, while they learned the difference between living together and dating. They had to decide how to delegate chores.
“We’re both messy and don’t enjoy cleaning. So we had to learn how to handle that. After resolving that, I would say living together has been pretty easy. We share our bills 50/50 and share different responsibilities. For us living together works,” said Ignowski.
Molly Urbain, sophomore, had a bit of a different living situation this year compared to Corrigan and lived by herself in the newly built Western View Apartments.
“At first I didn’t like living alone and I felt lonely and wished I had roommates, but now I love it and I am dreading having roommates next year,” said Urbain.
After getting used to it, Urbain really enjoyed living by herself and discovered the benefits of not having roommates.
“I think living alone gives you an even bigger sense of independence and helps you really find yourself. It’s also awesome not having to share anything! I think living on campus is the best way if you’re going to live by yourself,” Urbain said.
In Urbain’s opinion, the perks of living on campus include a close 5 to 10 minute walk to everything and extra security. Urbain said since the security is great, she was never scared of being a female living alone. She doesn’t think that she would feel the same if her apartment wasn’t on campus. She said she would be “terrified.”
“I don’t think it matters what your gender is, it’s more or less a personal preference. How mature you are and how well you can handle being alone. I grew up pretty much an only child so I was never used to sharing my things but I was used to being alone,” Urbain said.
Like Urbain, Ambrosia Neldon, junior, lives on campus, but she lives in Bigelow Hall and has done so since her freshman year.
“I love living on campus because it’s so close to everything. Especially with being a journalist, I have quick access to so many things that go on. If I have to go off campus, the buses are right next to me so I don’t have to worry about having a car,” said Neldon.
Lizzy Hull lives a bit further away from campus, in what WMU students call “the student ghetto” or the Vine Neighborhood. She said she was ambivalent about her neighborhood, neither liking or disliking it strongly.
“I like it because I am not overwhelmed with crazy parties and cops like up by campus, but some of the people are kind of creepy here. Same with safety, when I first moved here it took getting used [to]; there is a guy that walks around at all hours of the day on who knows what kind of drugs and rapping really loudly. Kind of nerve racking, but I’ve never felt [in danger of being] physically attacked by anyone,” said Hull.
Hull got use to where she lives, but has suggestions on where people should look at living if living in that area.
“[Parts of Kalamazoo] where more families and upper class men live … [tend to have] less obnoxiously loud parties thrown by kids who have too much freedom and do not know what to do with it,” said Hull.
Hull said that she will not be living in that area again next year and will be moving closer to campus where she feels safer around more people with her lifestyle.
There are so many different ways to live, especially in college and here at WMU, with many housing options all around Kalamazoo. It is important to find an arrangement that works best for you, where you will be the happiest and most productive, yet still be able to have some fun.
Edited by: Gena Reist