8 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Moved Off Campus

As a senior, moving off campus is one of those times where you realize you are becoming a little bit more adult-like. There are no more lurking RA's, no more scavenging through your backpack to find your ID card to get into your dorm, and no more getting locked/kicked out of your room by your roommate. However, breaking free from the fluorescent lit Wake dorms into the real world can come with some challenges.

So, here’s a list of some things I wish I knew before I moved off campus:

1. How to pay bills.

This can actually be quite confusing. Do I do direct pay? Do I send checks? What happens if I don’t pay them?

2. Your parents don’t live with you anymore, meaning that you don’t have someone to gently remind you to do your dishes or pick up after yourself. It will begin to smell in 1 to 3 days.

3. Your house will most likely never be clean. Ever.

4. You will spend WAY more money than you expect to on things you never knew you needed. You will drop so much money at Target you’ll think you have paid their electricity bill for the month. Do I really need a shower curtain liner? What are Clorox wipes for? Should I buy a hammer? It really can be overwhelming.

5. If you host a pregame at your house/apartment, warning: your floors will be sticky for a week. Granted it’s not the level of frat basement sticky, but mildly gross nonetheless.

6. How much time it takes to get from home to school, including the absurd amount of time it takes to find a parking spot on Wake’s campus. Always leave a little early; finding a spot is similar to finding a needle in a haystack.

7. Real neighbors. Real noise complaints. Real police.

8. You can no longer mindlessly eat in the pit whenever you want. You now have to think of what you need to buy at the grocery store. And you have to cook it. Again: overwhelming.

But, even with all of these challenges, living off campus is beyond anything you could have hoped for!