1. Movie night
This is super easy to do whether you live in a dorm, suite or apartment off-Grounds. You can watch movies in a common room with a TV, a portable projector or even just watch on a laptop. Movies are such an easy way to relax and unwind from a long day of studying or stay in after a long week. You can even make a routine out of it and rotate who gets to pick each week.
2. Dinner party
Dinner parties are super fun. Roommates with kitchens can take turns cooking large meals for each other and roommates staying in dorms can either use the common area kitchens or just schedule a night to head to the dining halls together. Catching up over some personal recipes and a warm meal can be one of the best ways to bond with your roommates.
3. Go on walks
Now that it is the perfect temperature outside, going on walks is a great way to get out of your room and get some fresh air. Next time you feel ready to abandon your desk, ask your roommate if they want to tag along and go on a walk with you. Grounds in the fall is beautiful and taking a chance to appreciate it while not rushing to class will definitely be a positive
experience.
4. Study outside of your rooms
Studying in your room or living room can become very monotonous. If you and your roommate take a break to head to one of the various places to study on Grounds, you can shake it up and maybe be even more productive than you were at home. The libraries aren’t the only places to study — many of the academic buildings and 1515 on the Corner provide an easily accessible studious atmosphere for students, and Newcomb also provides multicultural spaces to study. The Multicultural Student Center and LGBTQ+ Center are colorful and pleasant rooms to break up the monotony.
5. Bake
This can be done at your apartment or in the common area kitchens in dorms. Baking muffins, brownies or even a birthday cake can be a great activity for you and your roommate. One of my favorite memories from my first year was when I baked a cake in the Gooch-Dillard common area kitchen with a friend I met in one of my classes. Even this morning, I woke up and two of my roommates had baked pumpkin muffins and it made our whole apartment smell like fall.
6. Take the weekends to spend time together
Taking some time on the weekends to get away from your rooms or just from studying can be very healthy and help you build your relationship with your roommates. There are so many things to do in Charlottesville on the weekends. Some things require cars, like going on hikes, but others, like taking a trip to the Downtown Mall or the IX Art Park can be done on the Charlottesville Area Transport buses.
7. Hometown dates
If you have the opportunity to leave Grounds and head back to your hometown or visit any area you are fond of, you should take your roommates. During my second year, my roommates and I visited each of our hometowns and it was such a fun group of weekends. We got to eat at our favorite restaurants and meet everyone’s pets that we’d been seeing pictures of and spend time with each other’s families. It was a super unique way to get to know each other better and spend some time together outside of Charlottesville.
8. Run errands
Grocery shopping, CVS runs and Target runs are all better with a partner-in-crime. Even if it’s a mundane task, bringing your roommates can make it an adventure and less cumbersome of an activity. If you don’t have a car, you can take a bus to Barracks to run errands in the shopping center with different restaurants, shops and grocery stores. One of my favorite errands to run downtown is visiting the Charlottesville City Market on Water Street at the Downtown Mall.
9. Work out
The University’s gyms are all very accessible from any on or off-Grounds housing. For anyone who is slightly intimidated by going to the gym, taking your roommate is one of the best ways to get over that. With just a swipe of your ID at the University’s gyms, you have access to thrilling activities such as swimming, combat practice and rock-climbing. My roommate and I started going to the gym and, for me personally, it is so much easier to get motivated to work out if you know someone else is planning on going with you.
10. Attend University activities together
The University hosts an array of events. From acapella concerts to special themed-nights at the dining halls, to Lighting on the Lawn, the University always has something planned or going on. You and your roommates can make some amazing memories by attending any of these events together and making the most of the time that we all have here. Trick or Treating on the Lawn will be here before we know it at the end of this month. My roommates and I have had such great times together at these events and you all can too!
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