Off-Campus Living and New Roommates

Erin H.I am finally a senior (WHOOP) and this is my first time living off campus.

For the first three years here at Texas A&M, I lived in the same residence hall with the same roommate. Fortunately, it was modular style, so it was bigger than some of the other dorms, but the kitchen was not very clean, the sharing spaces were messy, and there was not much privacy in the room itself. However, I lucked out because my roommate and I got along really well and we are still great friends.

While the living conditions were not great, the community and the friends I met made up for it.

I could not recommend enough, especially for freshmen, to live in the dorms their first year. Not only is being on campus much more convenient because of its proximity to dining places and classes, but it shapes you into the Aggie that everyone should strive for; you get involved in so many events on campus, learn about all the traditions, and are surrounded by peers to whom you can relate and connect.

But as three years came to an end, my roommate and I decided it was time to move on. We wanted to find a nice apartment with two other close friends and experience the off-campus living for ourselves.

Boy, has this been a learning curve.

Living with one other roommate was one thing but living with three other girls was an entirely different ball game. All four of us had different ideas of what we considered clean, figure out what temperature to set the thermostat, and establish common house rules…that change weekly.

Not only that, but we were all new to off-campus living so we had to adjust to waking up earlier to get to class on time and set aside time to make food like real adults.

What a time to be alive! I have to say…it is nice to have our own kitchen and our own rooms to crawl back to when we need some alone time, but most importantly, I love girls’ night whenever we get the chance to have one.

Recently, we had a new addition to the “family”…and his name is Khaki. My roommate adopted this Catahoula/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix at 3 months old, and he is one spoiled puppy. He has every toy you could ever imagine and better jackets and clothes than I will ever have, but that’s OK, because he deserves it.

Currently, he is being potty trained and learning new commands every day. He does make mistakes here and there, but he is the one of the most well-behaved puppies I have ever met. I always say he’s an old soul trapped in a little body. We can’t wait to see him grow into a big dog!


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