As a student—living on your own, taking care of responsibilities you didn’t have in the dorms or at home—it can be difficult to figure out how you want to go about it.
Truthfully, you’re on your own now.
YOU get to make the decisions.
It can be hard when you’re first starting out, or when you’re trying to get in the groove of a new semester.
How do you decide what’s more important?
How do you want to take care of yourself?
The answer is: however you choose.
We want you to live your best life, and your best student apartment life.
You can continue to work on your New Year’s resolution by working on being a better you.
Here’s a few ways you might think of going about this.
1. Find Your Own Schedule
One of the most important things you can do as a student is find your own schedule for doing activities or chores.
You may find that you like to wait until after getting out of class to do all of your homework for the day, and that’s totally fine.
You may also like doing it in the morning or wee hours of the night when no one is awake to bother you, and that’s fine, too.
Finding your own time to do things is important, and doing it in whatever order you like makes it more bearable.
2. Communication Is Key
Talking to your roommates or the leasing office about things that bother you is important if you want to live in a place that makes you happy.
If something is unsatisfactory, let the leasing office or maintenance hotline know ASAP so it can be fixed and you can continue living in a comfortable place.
With roommates, let them know if they’re doing something you don’t approve of so you can work out the issue together and communicate about what you don’t like.
3. Keep On Top Of Cleaning
Yes, cleaning is generally no fun, but it must be done.
Keeping the place to your standard of clean can make it feel more like a home rather than a temporary place to live.
You’ll develop your own routine for it, and you can talk with roommates about what you prefer so a system can be worked out.
Don’t stress yourself with cleaning every day, but a regular basis is ideal.
4. Make Your Apartment A Home
Your apartment at school isn’t just an apartment—it’s your home.
You wouldn’t feel comfortable living in a blank white box for a couple of years, so personalize it and make it yours.
Put up pictures, get some throw blankets, and hang a poster or two in your room.
The space is yours to live in, so make it look like you actually DO live there!
5. Know Your Neighbor
It can be handy to know your neighbors in the complex in case you (or they) need something and need it NOW.
Forgot your key to the laundry room? Ask the folks across the hall.
Don’t have a snow brush for the winter? Borrow one and return it when you’re done.
It’s super easy to get to know your neighbors—just knock to say hello and you may become best friends!
It can also be nice at times when you know people around you so that you can be direct with them if they’re being loud or vice-versa because you can be civil about it.
It’s a new year and you have new goals, so start by living your best life at your apartment near campus!
