Learning How to Have an Apartment at 19

It feels like I’ve been looking forward to having a brand new space to decorate from scratch for years now. But when I started watching dorm move-in vlogs and apartment tours on YouTube as a kid, that was all I thought about – the decorating part. I have not been looking forward to the responsibilities of cooking for myself, washing all of my own dishes, cleaning, communicating with a landlord, and having to deal with broken appliances, etc. I do have three roommates, one of which I share a room with, so it does help to have people to share with these responsibilities, but we are all still learning as well. 

All summer before this year moving into my apartment, I tried to prepare myself for the extra responsibility. My mom would remind me that once I moved in, I couldn’t leave the dishes I used for breakfast sitting in the sink all day, which did help a lot once I had my three roommates and their dishes to consider. I would also follow my parents around the kitchen some nights, trying to take note of how they cook some of my favorite foods. Although, so far I don’t think I’ve done as much home cooking as I thought I would. I’ve also been really surprised by how difficult grocery shopping is. At home, I’ve been going grocery shopping with my mom almost every weekend for years. But moving to an apartment here in SLO, I have struggled with keeping a proper list, deciding what are needs and wants, figuring out where the heck everything is in each different store, and then knowing how much is a reasonable amount to be spending on groceries. I truly don’t know how my mom always makes it look so easy. 

There’s also the struggle of finding the time to cook dinner; after having classes then trying to work on homework, it feels like the minute I get home, all of a sudden it’s time to eat. I’ve slowly been learning though, and I now have a running grocery list on my phone that I try to add to once I remember something. I’ve also realized that not having class until noon doesn’t necessarily mean I should do nothing until noon. Even though it is still difficult, I feel myself getting into more of a groove of dividing my time, learning what kinds of meals are practical for me each week, and just building a daily routine that I enjoy and that is filled with things that matter to me. With this routine in mind, there are still days where I procrastinate all my homework and only eat out, or some days where I feel like I have had no time to myself. 

Aside from grocery shopping and cooking, I also have to think about household duties like taking out the trash, keeping the bathroom, kitchen, and floors clean, and keeping other common spaces from being cluttered. These are things that I’m grateful to have my roommates to work through it with, but it can still be a struggle. Things like cleaning the bathroom are often things nobody wants to do, but they have to get done. Cleaning supplies is also an extra thing on a grocery list that has to be accounted for. Something my roommates and I might try to practice is designating a certain day to do a big chunk of cleaning, but with our crazy college schedules, it’s also important to do certain things whenever you have time for them, especially taking out the trash, doing dishes, or bigger things like cleaning the sinks or floors when you notice they need it. 

We also have had a few issues that required repeated messages to our landlord before they were resolved. In fact, right now our blinds are broken and our garbage disposal doesn’t work, even though we have messaged our landlord multiple times about these things. I think for a lot of people this is one of those frustrating parts of becoming an adult, but living in a college town also makes me wonder if we are taken very seriously by landlords. Most complexes we viewed, and even a lot of houses, are often lived in by college students, who might have to go the extra mile to convince their landlord that they should listen to them. Still teenage girls, my roommates and I are not super quick to confront our landlord, so they may have an idea that we’ll just let things slide. 

In an apartment, I’m having to combine new experiences and lessons with the things that got me through my first year of college, like remembering to listen to my favorite songs often, keeping track of my homework so that I know what I need to do each day, and finding foods that I enjoy but that also get me through my day. It is also a lot nicer for me having my car this year because even though it is extra work, I can cook and buy more of whatever I want, instead of whatever campus dining has to offer. As it turns out, watching all of those apartment tours on YouTube wasn’t in vain because it has also been a lot of fun getting to decorate my apartment with my roommates. Finding things like fun wall art and cute lighting has been exciting, and I’d like to shout out my roommate Ashlee who brought a bunch of plants that make our living room super homey. Although it may not be the most important necessity for an apartment, good decorations that make you feel at home are a must for a first apartment. To first years here at Cal Poly who might be starting to look for next-year’s housing during this quarter (I recommend starting the process soon), here are some more tips: to think hard about what kind of place you want, like a house vs. apartment, how many stories you want, think about how old the units you’re looking at are, consider the student life in the complex/neighborhood, and look out for communicative landlords that cooperate with you about questions you have, getting a tour of the place, etc. Picking how many roommates you want and who they will be is also important–you need people that you mesh well with, like spending time with, and most importantly, that you can count on. Despite the struggles, I feel so lucky to have a roof over my head, to live in a beautiful place like SLO, and to have my three great roommates.

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