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Living in an apartment during college
can be the highlight of a student's life. You're away from home,
living with friends. You don't yet have the stresses of a full time
job. You only have a few hours of class a day. And there are always
opportunities for fun. How can you maximize this chance to live while
still keeping school your priority?
First, it's important to have a common
understanding amongst your roommates that school is the priority
during the week. Everyone has different class schedules, so for some
of your roommates Thursday night is the weekend or perhaps
Wednesday's classes don't start until the afternoon. Hopefully you
chose roommates who will be courteous enough to understand that you
have a different schedule then they do.
If weeknight partying continues despite
your reminders, you may have to scout out some alternate study zones.
In my experience, obvious studying areas such as the library or a
coffee shop near campus are poor choices. They are typically overrun
with students and can, ironically, get quite distracting. Look
instead to some smaller study areas around campus or perhaps a nearby
public library.
If the problem isn't just getting your
studying done, but getting your sleep in, things are much more
serious. It would be ridiculous to start sleeping somewhere else
since your spending hundreds of dollars a month to stay at your
apartment. At this point, a more serious confrontation with the
offending roommates may be in order.
In such a confrontation, roommate
alliances will play a major role. If you're up against three other
party people, there may not be much you can accomplish unless you get
an authority involved. However, at this point do you really want to
continue living with these people? You may need to start looking for
a new place to live in this extreme case.
Otherwise, you can probably work out an
agreement. Restraining from hosting weeknight parties will seem
reasonable to most people when you explain your 8:00 classes.
Keeping the communication channels open
is vital to living with college roommates. Always be willing to give
a little and chances are they will return the favor. Keep on the
lookout for some out of the way study spaces so you can get out of
your apartment and remember to maintain good relationships with your
roommates in case you need their backup.
Ian Byrd runs a website dedicated to student housing at UCLA.
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