Signing up to check out of your dorm room, you are hoping that you will have all of your stuff packed by the time that you are supposed to be signing that line. That line represents a "see you later" for some, but for others, it represents a whole new chapter of their lives. Starting my freshman year of college, I was so excited to be living in a dorm room with an anonymous roommate. I was excited to be out of my parents' house and I knew I was just ready to be on my own. It so convenient to live on campus--everything is at your fingertips, especially when you have a community bathroom. No fighting over toilet duties and most importantly no buying of bathroom essentials. It was an experience I will never forget and I met some of my best friends from doing it.

Today is the day that I signed that line and, well, I am one of the ones who is starting a new chapter. I have officially flipped the page in my book and I have now moved into my first apartment. Yes, I have already fought over who’s cleaning the bathroom first and yes, I have already been worried about purchasing things with my own money for my own place. It’s a good thing that I have two of the best roommates to accompany me throughout this next journey and I am more than excited to see where it is going to take us. Moving that first piece of furniture out of your car and actually being able to place it where you want to place it and not having your mom or dad tell you, “no, I don’t want that there, one day you will have a place of your own where you can make your own decisions.” Well, today is that day for me.

Thinking about my mom and dad, I couldn’t thank them more for over-preparing me for this step. Oh and I can’t forget about creating an apartment mascot. Oh wait, is that not a normal thing to do? Well, let me tell you about our tin longhorn that sits on our front porch named Longrun. Longrun was found a few months ago on a long run, hence the name Longrun. He now has been claiming our front porch as his territory for about six hours since we placed him there. Now, as I type this I am sitting on a futon with an empty living room in front of me. In the back of my head I am questioning if I really need this light on; lights equal money, people. The TV that is in front of me currently is sitting on an upside down plastic tote. I am getting pretty innovative.

As I am looking forward to what this summer and next semester are going to bring to me I can also look forward to understanding what it’s like living on my own. Setting sleep timers, turning down the AC and keeping lights off are all things that my roommates and I will never hear the end of, but hey, at least I am not on toilet duty this week.