After a grimy year in the Murphree dorms, I knew I had to move off-campus — and quickly. I booked tours with every apartment building within a mile of midtown and began the search. And I searched and searched and searched. Finally, I found what every student living in Gainesville does: moldy, overpriced housing with a sweaty trek to the closest washing machine.
I felt confined to money-hungry signing fees and underqualified building management, yet I just couldn’t bring myself to sign the contracts that all my friends were signing. Suddenly, I remembered that I knew a landlord, a distant friend who owned a house. I asked if he had an empty room and he told me there was an available one for Spring. Luckily, I was studying abroad in Fall, so everything was magically falling into place. I came by for a tour, saw the potential of the hardwood floors, and began scheming the room design.
Honestly, I was a bit nervous to move in. I was going to be living with three other people I barely knew and there was a dude with pink eye crashing on the couch. I never lived with three guys before, but we found a balance (and a chore sheet). It ended up being one of the best semesters of my life.
It’s now my second semester at the house and it’s only gotten better. I would’ve never thought that living in a house with strangers could work, let alone with strange dudes, but it did, and it’s my favorite place in the world now . That’s why I think you should consider living co-ed in college, and here are five reasons why:
- The vibes are immaculate.
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Living with boys somehow creates a perfectly balanced atmosphere. No thinly veiled drama intoxicates the household. There’s no gossip about who sneaked out the door in the morning. If we have a problem, we sit down, and we talk it out. I haven’t spent more than a day stressing whether I’ve offended someone or accidentally used their favorite mug.
- There’s always someone to finish leftovers
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My roommates work out and one of them weighs double my weight. They eat more than the average village elephant, which means food never goes to waste; made too many sweet potatoes? Shoot a text into the group chat and they’ll be gone the next day. Also, when they do cook, stealing some food is never a problem.
At my house, we also organize “fam dinners,” which usually include some steak off the grill, followed by overly competitive board-games. (Admittedly, fam dinners lack some aesthetically curated charcuterie boards.)
- Their girlfriends become your best friends.
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My housemate Nick is dating Lorena, which means she practically lives with us. The first time I met her, she jumped to hug me and said, “I’ve been SO excited to meet you.” Not only is Nick like a brother to me, but his girlfriend is the friendliest sister ever (although she definitely inherited the better booty genetics). Also, Rowan’s boyfriend Chase is a total sweetheart, and lets me third wheel any movie night. Both of them contribute to house chores AND don’t block my car in the driveway, so we love them more than their significant others.
- They appreciate you.
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If you’re in a house full of girls, no one if going to appreciate you forcing them to make time in their schedules for a spring-cleaning day. But in a co-ed house? Your organization will hail you as queen of the household. The boys have never lived in a house this clean, and they’re getting used to the good life. Yes, this does mean that sometimes you have to harass them to take out the trash, but if you confuse them, you can convince them it’s their turn again.
- It’s not the 19th century anymore.
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Despite what your parents may think, living in the same house as a dude will not increase your chances of having sex with them — you could’ve easily done that by coming over. However, we’re old enough to make smart choices, which means knowing which friendships to keep platonic. My roommates are my family, and I would never do anything to compromise that.
I’m so grateful that deciding to live co-ed led me to finding my family in Gainesville. I never would’ve thought that these strangers could become some of my closest friends.
Also, Son and Nick, escort the spiders outside <3
P.S.: This was just a reflection of my own experience. My generalizations are not reflections of every guy out there, and co-ed doesn’t work for everyone. I just wanted to share my positive experience and hopefully inspire some out-of-the-box thinking.