The stress of finding housing: be patient and don't force it

Well, I finally have a place to live!

I started my housing search in March, and I thought I was late to the game. After all, many students were accepted in the fall, when the first application cycles occurred. I remember meeting a girl from my undergraduate university who was excited about getting into her top choice optometry school. She was excited to start her senior year, and her opto plans were already cemented in October.

Yeah, I was terrified. I was convinced I was behind everyone, and I didn't know how to even begin to look for housing. I found my previous apartment because of my roomie. She had offered a room in her apartment for my junior year, but I turned it down. Then that spring, she found a new apartment, had two roommates lined up, and was looking for a third. I toured the place, made the decision, and signed the lease before winter quarter finals even finished.

But here I was looking for housing in a different state, not knowing anyone in my new town. Do I look at the classifieds? Do I drive down to look around for "for rent" signs? Is there someone I can contact to help me out? Taking a stab in the dark, I posted an introduction of myself and a generic "Looking for a roomie/place to live this fall" post on my class' Facebook page.

And got nothing.

No surprise there, I suppose. But I scrolled through every post and answered all "looking for a roomie" requests and "room available" listings, and each one fell through. In the span of a week or two, I had been told "already found a roomie and housing" by three different people, and decided co-ed housing wasn't going to allow me to be pantsless in the summer (important priorities, here).

But I took a breath, told myself to be optimistic and let things run its course. I listened attentively for a few more weeks but had no bites; my fishing line was waving loosely in the current. I placated myself, saying that it was only mid-May, and maybe classes got out late? (That was a blatant lie--classes ended in April/early May. You gotta do what you gotta do to keep your chin up.)

But then 3 months after my original search, I found a new post: Looking for a roomie! It was posted just an hour earlier, and I immediately answered it.

And I got no response.

I was so antsy and stressed, but I told myself to be patient. Put yourself in their shoes: what would you be thinking? I'll answer that tomorrow when I have more time. Yes, I'm a horrible person who doesn't reply to emails, messages, or texts in a timely manner. And maybe they are too. Deep breaths.

Later that week, she apologized for not responding quickly as she was busy with summer classes, but yes she was interested in being roommates, and looking for a place.

So here I am, 4 months after stressing about being behind schedule, and I've got a lovely place for me in FG, and a roommate to look forward to!

It all works out. Just give it patience and take deep breaths. You can't force it.

let's talk about taking multiple science classes

Can we talk about classes?

When I was a freshman, I was terrified of taking more than two science classes at once. My first year I took math and gen chem plus an elective the entire year, and I hated it. General chemistry was not my forte, and while I wish I could go back and take them again now (because I finally understand thermodynamics, thank goodness), at the time I couldn't imagine piling another "hard" class on top of the previous two.

But then I learned that the fear and hatred and trepidation of taking three science classes at once was entirely due to the fact that they were pre-reqs without a break. It sounds bad, but pre-reqs are weeder classes. They are the classes you have to get through so that you can take the classes you like. And when you take the classes you like, you'll want to take more of them.

My second year, I took ochem, physics, and biology. I'm a microbiology major, so biology was right up my alley. I loved that class--it was interesting which made it easy to study for. But ochem was heartbreaking. What I needed was a break from chemistry. So I stopped taking Ochem after fall quarter. And I loved my resulting course load. I took a class on Rome winter quarter, and a class on microbio spring quarter. And that's when I realized that three classes I enjoyed--no matter what subject--was completely doable. (Did I have to take ochem again? Absolutely. I took it spring of Junior year, and loved it. Because I really needed the break from chem. When I came back to it I was taking two microbio classes which made studying and learning fun. I came to ochem class with a different outlook as a result of taking classes I enjoyed. I wanted to learn even though ochem wasn't my top choice.)

So is taking multiple science classes doable? Yes. But you aren't going to enjoy it unless you like most of the ones you're taking. The outlook you have when you go to class will affect how much you enjoy the quarter.