As I write this article, I struggle to grasp the concept that I am almost done with my first semester here at Pace. Everyone says that time flies by. However, I truly did not expect my last couple weeks to have approached so soon. While Pace has definitely lived up to the college stereotypes I anticipated facing, it also had some interesting aspects that I wouldn’t trade for any other experience elsewhere.  

 

Even though academics are certainly what should have been at the forefront of my mind, I couldn’t help but fixate on the dorm I would be living in. Like many of my friends, I obsessed over how I would decorate my room and what college essentials I thought I would need. Even after buying things from an unnecessary disco ball to essentials like laundry detergent, I still didn’t feel at ease about my future living situation. In addition to having to communicate with my roommate over these matters, I also would be living with 7 other girls, meaning communication was a bit difficult. Now that those initial months have passed where I lived with uncertainty about my suite, I can now say I have a decent understanding as to what living with other people will be like for me in the future, whether it is in a dorm room again or in a potential apartment.  

 

One crucial takeaway I have learned from my first semester here at Pace is that communication is key to living civilly and amicably. I was anxious to meet my suitemates because I didn’t know how friendly they would be, or what their living habits would be like. Now that I have lived with them since August, I feel that we all know each other on a personal level. For the most part, we have all learned that if certain things bother us, we should speak up about them calmly in order to have the best living conditions possible. Cleanliness was also a major issue we needed to resolve as soon as possible, so within the first month, we set up a chore chart to equally distribute the suite’s responsibilities among all 9 of us. Smaller technicalities will inevitably come up aside from daily chores, but we all agree that they can feasibly be tackled as long as we are all open about everything and willing to cooperate with each other. At the end of the day, it is important to remember that we are all living together and paying the same amount for our rooms, so we should all be able to live contentedly in our dorms.  

 

Budgeting  

Another issue I was expecting to face was budgeting. No matter whether you’re given an allowance, or have to work while in school, it is inarguable that college students will be spending money. I had not really taken into account the fact that my expenses would differ from those of my friends at other colleges. New York City is undeniably the only city I would want to attend college in, but the expenses that come with it are not easy. Whether it was eating out, going out, or buying essentials, everything in New York City was so much more expensive than I had anticipated. What I have learned this semester in regard to budgeting is that college is so much more different than high school. I cannot spend as much money as I used to, and I had to learn that leisurely shopping every weekend was not something in my budget anymore. I also had to face the difficult concept that food would no longer always be in my fridge, and that If I wanted groceries, I would have to go out and get them myself. It all surrounds independence, which is something I think I am starting to get used to! Although my friends at colleges outside of the city don’t face these budgeting issues as harshly as I do, I still would not trade this experience of school in the city for any other.  

 

College in New York City is definitely something that I am still getting used to. From managing money to living in a dorm, it can all be stressful for the average college student. Although times have been hard at some points during my first semester here at Pace, I have learned that these issues are all manageable and I cannot wait for the rest of my semesters here in the city!