Before signing your lease, make sure to read the fine print on the people you may be living with
Aside from obtaining a higher education through post-secondary institutions, university can be considered to be a time when students gain their independence - especially if they were to move out of their childhood home.
The adult responsibilities of grocery shopping and doing your own laundry finally begin, and we aren't able to rely on our parents anymore. Moving away from home also creates opportunities for character-building as students may need to live with a variety of individuals who may be unfamiliar to them.
With many student leases coming to an end and house-hunting season in full swing, it's no surprise that many of us may be reflecting on our prior housemate experience.
Whether it's your first time house-hunting as a student or your last, it's important to know that the people you will be sharing a home with have the power to make you feel part of a second family, or despise every moment of your academic year.
Don't get me wrong, not all housemates make there are always positive moments with housemates that can overshadow the annoyance you experience. Yes, you may fight about them always stealing your food, even when you write your name on the container. However, at the end of the day, when they need advice, you're always more than happy to talk with them about whatever troubles you.
I would say these are the best kinds of housemates. Although you may have to remind each other to take your laundry out of the dryer machine because it's been sitting there for a few days, they are motivational and comforting. These types of housemates make you miss home a little less.
On the other hand, we have the housemates that make you regret moving to a post-secondary institution so far from home.
Although no one intends to be an unfavourable housemate, we don't always get along with everyone we meet.
At such a diverse university, it's no surprise that our housemates were raised differently from us.
However, this often leads to conflict within the house. Someone may have to pick up the slack or provide constant reminders for everyone to pull their weight within their house. There may be an unfair division of household chores or overall your personalities don't match causing other lifestyle conflicts.
It's not favourable to live with people who you cannot agree with on simple things such as buying house supplies or are inconsiderate of your preferences like being excessively loud or passive-aggressive in the house group chat.
Elements such as these can break your university experience because you become miserable within a space where you are spending the majority of your time. The energy should be welcoming. You shouldn't be mentally exhausted anytime you think of heading back to your room. By experiencing these negative feelings, we begin to associate school with the unpleasant situations we constantly experience with our housemates.
Overall, we either get really lucky when gambling for housemates or we get placed into situations that make us regret moving out of our childhood homes.
Although I don't think there's a way we can avoid this completely, there are some preventative measures we can take to avoid this even before the lease is signed.
For example, creating a group of people to rent an entire house with you rather than looking to rent a room for yourself alone ensures that you personally know your future housemates. This can help avoid conflict as you may have better insight into their personality, lifestyle and their living preferences. If this doesn't work for you, you could also look for parts of houses to rent like the basement where you would only need to convince one other friend to move in with you.
It is very important to know who you are living with before you sign the lease.
In the event that you are living with random people, set house rules that accommodate everyone's lifestyle in some capacity and remember to hold mutual respect. At the end of the day, you are tied together by a lease. If this still doesn't work, find some trusted friends to laugh about these issues with and think about seeking other alternative living solutions next year.
Jessica Yang/Production Assistant
Housing is still a problem for many as in-person classes are set to commence
Prior to the 2021 winter break, students began to search for housing for the 2022 school year when McMaster University announced plans for a near full return to campus. This meant upper-years were looking to sublet rooms for the winter semester and first-years were looking to sign year-long contracts.
Now, with in-person classes beginning for all students on Feb. 7, some students still find themselves in the process of house hunting.
Mario Panza, a fourth-year student who struggled to find housing before the break, gave an update on his search for housing this semester. With more listings, availability has gone up, but Panza stated that landlords have taken to increasing prices during this season of demand.
“I was seeing 700 [dollar] minimums,” said Panza.
Fortunately, upper-year students now have McMaster residences as another option this year. Holly Gibson, manager of marketing and communications at housing and conference services, said residence is currently accepting applications from all years.
“This is not a typical year, so we had the opportunity to open up space for all levels,” said Gibson.
“This is not a typical year, so we had the opportunity to open up space for all levels,”
Holly Gibson, Manager of Marketing and COmmunications at Housing and Conference Services
Gibson also mentioned that a great way for students to get in touch with the residence team to ask questions is through their Instagram.
Residence buildings reopen as of Jan. 14 and winter residence applications continue to be reviewed beginning mid-January.
Zara Khan, a first-year student who was also struggling to find housing before the winter break, said that students were told residences would open a week into the semester due to a rise in the Omicron variant during the holiday season.
Khan also said there were some worries among students about adding additional residents when moving out for the winter break.
“Before we all moved out, there were speculations that more people were moving in . . . There’s kind of that COVID scare. There’s more people on the same floor using the same things,” said Khan.
“Before we all moved out, there were speculations that more people were moving in . . . There’s kind of that COVID scare. There’s more people on the same floor using the same things,”
Zara khan, First-Year Student
Since Oct. 18, it has been mandatory for students and staff to be fully vaccinated before entering campus buildings and McMaster residences. With the vaccination booster rollout being accelerated due to an increase in the Omicron variant, anyone over the age of 18 is now eligible to book their booster as of Dec. 20. However, Gibson said there is not yet any requirement for boosters at McMaster.
“Residence is following MacCheck vaccination guidelines that the university has put into place. So, what the university is saying, that's what we're going to follow. There isn't any talk about boosters in residence at this time, but we would encourage people to get the booster shot if they can,” said Gibson.
Residence is following MacCheck vaccination guidelines that the university has put into place. So, what the university is saying, that's what we're going to follow. There isn't any talk about boosters in residence at this time, but we would encourage people to get the booster shot if they can,”
Holly Gibson, Manager of Marketing and COmmunications at Housing and Conference Services
With residence accepting applications from all years, hopefully, many students will soon be ready to return to campus.
By: Daniella Porano, Emma Little, and Hayley Regis
The Parent
The mom or dad of the house knows how to do everything – cook, clean, and fix things. They text you to as when you’re coming home and make sure you’re okay when they haven’t seen you all day. Checking to make sure you ate, and if you did, making sure it was a balanced diet. This roommate will make a comment if you eat dessert first or if you only eat bagels.
When you’re frustrated and can’t find something, they find it within seconds. When you break something, they can fix it. They remind you to clean, do your chores, your homework, and to study. If you’re going out, the parents likely make sure you get home safely. They seem like the perfect person, and leave you wondering how they have mastered all of these skills, and kept up on all the cooking and cleaning with a busy university schedule. You appreciate that they care, but you also wish that sometimes they would just leave you alone.
The Is-This-Really-A-Kitchen-Or-A-Junkyard-Roommate?
It’s Saturday morning and I’ve come downstairs to make myself breakfast. There’s an inch of mold in my mug, vomit in the kitchen sink, and disgusting Tally-Ho’s remnants in takeout containers strewn across the kitchen table. The garbage bag on the floor is emanating a revolting smell and leaking a mysterious brown liquid on the tiles. Dry heaving and ordering takeout becomes my Saturday morning routine.
This roommate is the dirtiest person you have ever met. You don’t understand how any one person could be this disgusting, until you see their mom come and clean their room one Sunday afternoon. Because you share a kitchen, and sometimes a bathroom with them, you feel like you’re living in a private hell of toxic filth. There is no amount of angry Facebook rants in your house group or passive-aggressive post it notes that will end this madness. Moving out is your only real option.
Meat head
Hey buddy, I know it was you. Nobody else plays enough WoW to use an additional 300GB of internet. Also, I get that you go to the gym and you “gotta get dem gainz” but I don’t understand why that means you dirty every pot, pan, and plate in our house every week. Is it some ritual I don’t understand? If so, I apologize, but I also don’t care, I just want to make some mophuqqin’ KD without having to salvage clean dishes from the mountain of filth you create. Also aren’t you in your mid-20s? Probably stop using Axe, that’s not a thing.
“I’m in a band”
We get it, you’re in a band. But the women you bring home in the night aren’t groupies; I’m 95 percent sure you pay them (which is no big deal, sex work is fine) but I’m not super fond of how often you steal my laundry detergent to do your sweaty sex sheets. Please pay your bills, like it’s been months and I don’t really want to pay for all your shower sex (P.S. it’s not conserving water if you do it like thrice a day).
Are you even in a band? I’ve only ever heard you play the same chord over and over and only at 2 a.m. Why must you smoke indoors? Blowing pot smoke into the vent seems like a good idea until the rest of us get confusing contact highs and try to figure out why we’ve eaten all our chips at 3 p.m. on a Thursday. Just graduate already.
