Ohio University - Athena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

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FRY BABY While living off campus, this student whips up some stir fry. A stove was one luxury off campus students enjoyed, but students weren ' t always excited about the prospect of cooking. WHEN I WAS A BOY ... Kelly Crow listens to her friend, Chris- tian Bunker, spin yarns on the front porch. Consensus held that houses were cozier than apartments. Living off-campus is cool. I never have to worry about how Oloud my music is and I can cook-out on my front porch while drinking a beer. Off-Campus — Jim Lynch 12 N Student Life

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liii mi D. Engle SURF ' S UP?! Nancy Forsythe folds her clean clothes in the Gam laundry room. The average load of clothes cost $1 .25 to wash and dry. HACKERS? Freshman Chris Coltey practices his hacky sack skills. Most hacky sacks cost about $5. what did I Living in a dorm is great! W I I It ' s just like living i i a big ¥ • ! - family: everyone knows each o other and we get along really well Ami Shah Dorm Life Student Life i ■ ' 1 . T

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ow look what you ' ve done VI It ' s finally here — the day when the God of Responsibility and Inde- pendence has declared you eligible to live off campus. A few yeats back, you said bye-bye to your childhood bedroom, and now the dorm life has lost its appeal. Lastly, the big guys at OU have accepted your 90 diligent hours of crass work and your new-fangled maturity as a sign: you ' re ready to take the big plunge into off campus living. You searched and searched, and have finally found the place that you and your roommates deem acceptable for habitation. Hastily signing the lease, you skip the fine print and try to avoid thinking about the serious- ness of this legal document. But no matter, because a lifeot independence is awaiting you on the other side. I think that apartment living has some disadvantages. We have to be more quiet. The last time we had a loud party, the police stopped by, and the landlord told us to cut down on parties or we would be evicted, commented Scott McKenzie, Jr. Senior Rick Bell quipped, Living off campus means having to take a few extra classes: Cooking 101, Cleaning 302, and Bill Paying 606. So far, I haven ' t flunked any of them, but I do have a few in- completes! Many students experience a brief period of irrational beliefs when they first move into their own place. This is expressed through the constant thought that one can do whatever he wants, when he wants, and how he wants. Your Mom isn ' t within an earshot when your dirty clothes occupy more than their share of space, and there are no RAs to tell you to stop doing what you ' re doing. And then, there it is, sitting in the mailbox. It ' s an envelope that re- sembles a bill, and you notice the way that your name has been typed so immaculately on the front, so as to avoid any mistake as to who owes money. Shocked, you have a terrible urge to call home to Mommy. This may be the moment when, suddenly, the responsibility of having your own place becomes terribly real. There is no one to hold your hand, to make decisions for you, to cook chicken noodle soup when you get the flu. Living of f campus is the best: you can be alone, have a quiet, romantic dinner for two, or have an all-out, 20-kegger until dawn, said junior Brian Matthews. Sophomore Marq Thompson com- mented, I think Athens land- lords need to lower rent. Anyway, all the beautiful women need to come and visit the ' Lords of Lakeview ' ! Fortunately, the art of establishing and maintaining an apartment or house becomes old hat with practice. One quickly learns the most impor- tant word in the off campus dweller ' s vocabulary — balance. This means having a lifestyle that averages out to moderation, even though you may party too much, or clean too little. With just the right amount care, it ' s not too hard to establish a happy medium. Living off campus is the only dress rehearsal before the real life event, so look back on it and know you made the most of it. By Erin Powell YUM For dinner, grad student Mike Hall serves himself some seconds. Mike chose, as most grad students do, not to live in the halls with underclassmen. Off-campus living 1 3 ;■ M .