IF YOU’RE A SOPHOMORE AT NORTHWESTERN, YOU MIGHT ALREADY BE CONSIDERING YOUR LIVING SITUATION FOR NEXT YEAR. YOU’VE TAKEN NOTE OF THE FOR SALE SIGNS POSTED ON PROPERTIES AROUND CAMPUS, FOUND SOME POTENTIALLY COMPATIBLE ROOMMATES, AND MAYBE EVEN STARTED A PINTEREST BOARD FOR INSPO. EVEN WITH ALL THIS, YOU STILL CAN’T SHAKE THE FEELING THAT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING. AND THAT’S BECAUSE YOU PROBABLY DON’T. THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU’RE FAR FROM ALONE—THIS UNCERTAINTY IS A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS LOOKING TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY FOR THE FIRST TIME.
YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT EVEN AFTER YOU MOVE IN, AS MANY OFF-CAMPUS FIRST-TIMERS ARE NOW LEARNING. TO MAKE THE TRANSITION INTO LIVING INDEPENDENTLY A LITTLE LESS MYSTERIOUS, I TALKED WITH CURRENT JUNIORS NINA GEORGIEVA, SHAAFI FLENER, ANTHONY XIE, WILLIAM THAKUR, AND DYLAN MCGAHRAN ABOUT ABOUT THEIR QUALMS WITH AND TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SURVIVING OFF-CAMPUS LIFE.
Izzy Pareja: What do you miss most about living on campus?
Nina Georgieva: “I miss being close to everything, and being able to just go to the library because it’s right there. And the food, because I have to cook my own food now and I can’t just hit up the dining hall whenever I want.”
Shaafi Flener: ”Well I miss two things: the ready availability of food at the dining halls and also the time it took to walk from place to place.”
Anthony Xie: “Being forced to be on like a meal plan I guess, that’s definitely the biggest thing for me. I feel like if I lived in maybe a different place off-campus, I would also probably say distance, but my place is right next to Willard.”
William Thakur: “I think the biggest thing is also the food, like I lived in Plex so I could just go downstairs at lunch or dinner, I wouldn’t have to cook anything. That’s a lot more work.”
Dylan McGaharn: “Being able to just eat whatever, wherever I want with the dining plan. And just like being close to all my classes . . . I’m guessing you get that a lot.”
IP: It seems like being off of a meal plan is one of the bigger adjustments to off-campus living. How do you feel living off-campus has affected your eating habits?
NG: “I mean it definitely has a lot, just because I have full control over the food that I’m eating, so like I’m eating significantly healthier now, and also much less throughout the day because I can’t just stop at the dining hall for a snack.”
SF: “I just don’t eat more than like two meals a day now, because it’s really really hard to cook and then bring it to campus. And I feel like I have an obligation when I get up and I get to campus to get through all my classes and then stay on campus, because what normally happens is classes and club meetings, and I don’t really end up getting back to my house until about 8pm at the earliest. And so I end up in this weird situation where I just kind of skip that meal in the middle and just scrounge for like chips or something.”
AX: “Honestly, I feel like my eating habits are like . . . pretty much the same. I feel like I eat like, you know, three meals a day and like, snacks and stuff.”
WT: “Yeah, I don’t think it’s really changed much, I eat about the same amount. It’s maybe just the amount of time that goes into it.”
AX: “Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
IP: What’s your favorite place to buy groceries?
NG: “Trader Joe’s! Because it’s cheap AF. And they have really good frozen meals that are ready really fast and I trust them.”
DM: “Jewel Osco, ‘cause they have everything. I like Trader Joe’s and it’s right across so I go there also, but you have to hit your Jewel Osco if you want anything that’s a normal brand.”
SF: “Probably Costco, cause they tend to have everything I want at much cheaper prices than places like Jewel Osco or Trader Joe’s or somewhere else”
DM: “I saw this man at Jewel Osco.”
SF: “I didn’t want to go there.”
AX: “Probably Trader Joe’s, even though I know that’s what everyone’s gonna say. I just, I love the vibe there, and I feel like the portions are a little bit more appropriate for just one person.”
WT: “I get groceries at Costco in the city and then I drive because it’s way cheaper. You can get like a lot at once.”
IP: Getting groceries is only half the battle when you live off campus. The next challenge is often putting them together to create meals on the go. What’s your go-to meal?
NG: “If I’m in a rush, it would be frozen food. If I’m just like, what’s my go-to-meal, it’s penne pasta with arugula and pancetta and alfredo sauce.”
DM: “Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisines, just any frozen meal that wasn’t too expensive that was also not bad for you. And then, just like chicken, broccoli, pan, oil, spices.”
SF: An avocado tuna bagel with everything seasoning or a chicken, rice, celery, onion concoction that I like to make at the beginning of the week.
AX: “Obviously just like pasta with like whatever sauce you have in the fridge. I also make these like Chinese Noodles with Chili Oil, it’s super easy to put together and it’s really good, but it’s really —-ing spicy though.
WT: “For lunch I have PB & J most days—It’s easy and convenient and it tastes good!”
IP: What’s your number one tip for students looking to live off-campus?
NG: “Learn how to talk to a landlord lowkey, like keep very very careful track of what the condition of everything is when you move-in, and like don’t be afraid to annoy the —- out of your landlord.”
DM: “Try to make sure that all of your maintenance stuff is handled before school starts, because then you just start putting it off.”
SF: “Don’t underestimate the time it takes to cook, don’t underestimate the time it takes to get to your classes, don’t overload your schedule because of that. Or also find a way to get to campus faster, so be it a bike or scooter or something else, like a skateboard.”
AX: “Location has like a huge impact on sort of the vibe of where you live. I feel like if you live closer to Evanston downton it’s like a cute little like ‘ Oh my god, I’m a college student in a college town.’ But if you live on like . . . I’m sorry but if you live on Noyes, like I’ve been up there and I’m just like wow . . . I’m 20, I’m in school and I’m struggling.”
WT: “Live so it’s closer to where you have classes. Like I’m living up north so I’m closer to Tech so I don’t have to walk as much. Or get a bike.”
FROM MEAL PREP TO MAINTENANCE REQUESTS, LIVING OFF CAMPUS CERTAINLY COMES WITH ITS OWN SET OF STRUGGLES. DESPITE THIS, STUDENTS SEEM TO KEEP PERSEVERING, EVENTUALLY ADAPTING TO WHATEVER CHALLENGES OFF-CAMPUS LIFE OFFERS.
FOR WNUR NEWS, THIS IS IZZY PAREJA.
