The dishes had been piling up for three days and fruit flies were starting to appear. For Chrissy Miller, this was more than she could bear.
"If we don't clean these dishes soon then there will be no more room left in the sink and then they will never get cleaned," she said. "Sooner or later we are going to have to start doing them in the shower."
But Miller is not alone in trying to maintain a clean living space. It is the second-year College student's first time living outside of student housing and she clearly is overwhelmed. At times, living off-Grounds can seem more challenging than expected.
Signing housing contracts fall semester last year, first-years had dreams of their apartments or houses being the epitome of style. It wasn't uncommon even then to hear about decorating schemes, weekly theme parties or nightly gourmet meals. It finally seemed that dorm living would soon be a distant nightmare.
But halfway through this first stint of independent living during second year, reality hit.
"We entertained once and now we have a hole in the wall," said second-year College student Sarah Payne, who lives on 14th Street.
Second-year College student Mike Van Doorn, who lives with five other male students, also said that holes made in apartment walls during parties have contributed to the changing look of his living room. "We just keep them covered with furniture and posters," Van Doorn said.
But both Payne and Van Doorn's woes are not unheard of among other renters. From dirty dishes in the sink to unpaid bills and that weird smell that won't leave the garbage can, living off JPA or near the Corner sometimes is not all it's cracked up to be.
Most second-year students agree that securing DSL or cable-Internet service is the most pervasive problem in off-Grounds housing, despite other obvious pitfalls like financial arrangements and sanitary conditions.
Second-year College student Courtney Byrd found most of her living problems revolving around the Internet.
"Only one of our computers in the house has Internet and it is in one of our roommates' rooms," Byrd said. "Though she doesn't say anything, it must be pretty annoying. We should do something about it for everyone's sake."
On the other hand, the Internet came easily for second-year College student Britt Henke. Her apartment complex on 14th Street provides the Ethernet service to its tenants. Several other rental agencies also are providing Internet connections, though at somewhat of a steep price.
But second-year College student Lindsay Smith found a large discrepancy between outside Internet providers such as Ntelos and the Internet service provided by her rental agency.
"Going through an outside service is definitely the way to go," Smith said. "Through our renting agency the cost of Internet would almost double."
Other apartment issues revolve around how and when the bills get paid. Second-year College student Rebecca Lynch finds her apartment's bill paying system effective.
"We divide the major utilities such as water and electricity by four, remind each other how much we all owe and then one of us will write a check," Lynch said. "We haven't had any problems doing it this way so far."
In the apartment of second-year Nursing student Lindsay Horlacher, however, paying the bills is less of a group responsibility.
"One of my roommates' takes care of the bills because she is pre-Comm," Horlacher said. "She lets the rest of us know what we owe."
Possibly one of the most difficult aspects of communal living for second years is keeping their living space clean. Second-year College student Megan Harris lives with seven other girls, yet feels her house on Chancellor Street remains clean for the most part.
"Everyone is in charge of cleaning their own rooms and the bathroom which they use most often," Harris said. "In the kitchen and common room we all do our fair share of cleaning and are not afraid to motivate our other roommates' to clean. For the most part, our system is based on common courtesy and respect for each other."
Second-year College student Hadley Puntereri, however, feels that the cleaning does not get done as often as it should in her seven-person house on 14th Street.
"Half of us clean, half don't. Half do dishes, half don't," Puntereri said. "With a seven-person household, it's hard to keep track so we also have a cleaning service come every once in awhile."
Although some have gone to an extreme and resorted to cleaning services, most students have settled on a cleaning plan that is based on their individual living needs.
Second-year College student Buck Brody lives in an apartment where cleaning rarely takes place. "We only clean in our apartment if someone throws up. We also use paper plates so we never have to do dishes."
Unlike the casual attitude toward cleaning in Brody's apartment, second-year College student Marisa Swopes said that her apartment's cleaning is done in an organized manner.
"We divide up the cleaning responsibilities by making a chart of weekly chores," Swopes said. "One week one roommate will take out the trash while another will clean the bathroom. The chores are posted on a bulletin board in the kitchen."
Although the carrying out of household tasks may be lax or more structured, surprisingly enough, cleaning seems to get done. Much to parents' disbelief, many students who rent houses or apartments attempt to do their dishes directly after a meal. And if they are not done directly after a meal, one might be wary of Grace Savage - she will not hesitate to put her roommates' dirty dishes in their rooms. "They're bound to get cleaned this way because who really wants to fall asleep next to their two-day old macaroni and cheese pot?" the second-year College student asked.
Food and entertaining also can pose a problem for first-time renters. Most apartments share staple foods such as milk and eggs, yet shop for other foods individually.
"We share foods like milk and bananas, but for the most part eat only the food we each buy for ourselves," Swopes said.
Brody's apartment works differently with food buying and consumption. "We all have our own refrigerators and if you plan on cooking you usually have to buy all the ingredients yourself."
Entertaining, like food shopping, can be a solitary or group effort. In some apartments all the roommates will have friends over, but only if the roommates share the same group of acquaintances. It is far more common when one or two roommates invite guests instead of the entire apartment or house entertaining together. Get-togethers usually consist of "pre-gaming" before going out because of the small size of most off-Grounds student housing. Second-year College student Ryan Holton and his roommates entertain in this style.
"We entertain usually about four times a week," Holton said. "Whomever is home is usually involved and everyone in the apartment seems to have become friends with everyone else's friends. Usually, there is a lot of drunken belligerence, a broken door or two, but it is always a good time."
For most second years, living off-Grounds is a pleasurable experience, keeping in mind that the trash is taken out, the bathrooms are properly cleaned and the dishes are washed after every meal.
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