This year, my sophomore year of college, I have taken an incredibly large step in terms of living arrangement. Switching from high school dormitory (I went to a boarding school) to college dormitory is microscopic compared to my jump from a college dormitory to a college suite. Though my trifles at boarding school have whetted my living habits, there are some things that I just had to learn by experience. Presented here are five basic things I have learned thus far.
1. Clean Up After Yourself
I feel one of the most important ingredient to successfully living with your friends (alone, without any custodial figures) is to clean up after yourself. Simply put, clean up after yourself so your suite-mates don't have to for you, vice versa. Maintaining a clean living environment is all about the small things, and each of you will honestly do your share if you wipe away the smudges you left, if you clean the dishes you used, etc.
2. Create a Living Living-Agreement
This point is also extremely important. Living situations get complicated, yet they are not unsolvable. For this reason I believe it to be crucial that anyone who plans on living in a suite with their friends sit down and work out a living-agreement. This is simply a list of rules and stipulations that may strictly or loosely govern the living arrangement. Most importantly, though, the document must be a "living" document. This means that you may all change by majority vote or unanimous vote as your year continues. Who knows what may happen, unexpected events may call for new rules or amended rules.
3. Respect Your Suite-Mates
If there is one thing that should be put into the aforementioned living-agreement, it is this. Respect on all fronts is important for the integrity of your suite. You will all have different types of study methods - some will study continuously in the suite, others in the library, and some less than others - different daily schedules, etc. It is important that you all collaborate and accept each other's ways of living. It sounds a little cheesy, but, trust me, the suite atmosphere can go awry really quickly if continuous respect, communication, and understanding is not implemented.
4. Respect the Suite
I conceive of an important difference between respecting the people living with you and respecting the place that you live. Things might get a little crazy, especially on the weekends, and the worst thing you could do is leave yourself with a damaged wall or part of the suite - leaving yourself also with a hefty bill. Simple enough, don't do stuff that will jeopardize all of your suite mates, or the suite itself.
5. Have fun!
Hopefully this one is the easiest to do. Picture it: you are in college, with four or more of your best friends, and you have an entire suite to yourself! Make use of the suite and use it as a place to have incredible memories, and an incredible college career!
