Living at Pitt

In honor of the last blog post, I’d like to compile the left over information to give a beneficial send off to my off-campus cohorts.  It has been a pleasure creating and writing for my blog; I’ve learned valuable information as I’ve researched and truly experienced all the adventures of living in South Oakland on my own.  The knowledge and practice of household responsibilities has been crucial to succeeding in my living of campus experience.  More importantly, I hope my experiences have saved someone some stress or cash.  Here are the last of my suggestions to making life off-campus little easier for those students how took the leap to leave University housing.

ü  Renters insurance.  Insurance is almost a no-brainer; in case of burglary or fire to ones place of residence, renters insurance would cover the damages of ones possessions.  The only drawback to renters insurance is the price tag, about $80 dollars a month.  This can be a pricey addition to any college student’s tight budget, but consider losing thousands of dollars in laptops, TVs, videogame systems, clothes, and furniture; suddenly shelling out under a hundred a month doesn’t seem too bad.

ü  Sealing windows with WinterGuard weather  wrap and doors with weather insulation strips adds another barrier preventing cold air from seeping in through cracks around the frames.  Keeping warm air in also keeps the utility bill low.  A student can find these inexpensive weather barriers at any local hardware store, and instillation is as easy as applying special adhesive around the frame, stretching the plastic firmly to all four edges, then using a blow-dryer to finish the seal.  Twenty minutes of time could save you from paying a several hundreds of dollars in heating bills after a Pittsburgh February.

ü  An extra security feature for first floor windows are iron bars.  Although they are ugly as sin, they are powerful reminder to everyone that they are not getting in to your house through your window.  A student can ask their landlord to install the bars but if they are reluctant and don’t want to pick up the tap, one can find bars at a local Home Depot or iron works shop.

Living off-campus isn’t an excuse to get away from the rules and regulations of dorm life, it’s a playground where students learn valuable lessons in managing finances, home owning responsibilities, and productive communication practices.  Making the move off-campus is an enriching and worthwhile endeavor that sets a student up for success throughout their college and eventually ‘real world’ career.  

The Roommate: a simple title yet convoluted and diverse that it is nearly impossible to define the perfect example.  Quite possibly a roommate is the most important fixture in a multiple person off or even on-campus student living arrangement.  You trust them with your most valuable possessions, trust that they are civil and conscientious people, trust them enough to eat, sleep, and live with them; basically you trust them with your life. Living freshman year with two random roommates (the first dropped out while the latter was about as polar opposite of me as they come) served as a painful reminder that roommate selection greatly determines ones living and academic experience in college.

                Roommate selection processes should begin like this: who do you consider a good, no great friend at the current selection time and could that same person or people be as close to you after living 12 months in the same, small, tight living quarters one calls their apartment, house, or dorm.  A roommate should share a similar world view as you, potentially motivating studies and healthy activities, or at least not hindering studies or personal wellbeing.

A friend or friends that you trust and respect enough to spend the majority of school year with is the easiest method of fitting the roommate query, but also be confident that they will have sufficient funds to pitch-in for living expenses.  If you are blessed with such a find it greatly dictates what size and style of living arrangement is appropriate for the number of people involved.  Multiple people also means financial support in paying utilities, groceries, and most importantly rent.

Your relationship with your roommate is critical to maintain and keep at a happy baseline the majority of the time.  In return, it’s easier for the parties involved to make decisions, discuss responsibilities and obligations, confront each other when there is a problem, and maintain peace when clash does occur.  I choose my two good friends because we were compatible on many levels; interested in the same activities, shared most of the same friends, and could easily communicate without creating drama.  Although most people only consider rooming with close friends, it is ideal to create a roommate code of conduct, a checklist outlining what each one is responsible for and the basic terms of respect and privacy that each is granted.  This eliminates confusion or gray areas when issues arise.  Communication is the key to success when it comes to roommates, almost every question or issue can be talked through with honesty and understanding. 

The warm embrace of summer and early fall has vanished from the hillsides of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, ushering in the worst 4 months of the year.  Yes, I consider November, December, January, and February the worst months out of the year because I live and attend school in the miserable cold, gray jet stream location of Pittsburgh.  As I write in the waning days of October, wet snow is collecting on the car windshields outside of my house, and the thermostat in my living room reads a balmy 56 degrees Fahrenheit.  As the overwhelming majority of city homes are designed to heat their interiors with natural gas furnaces, many students have a tough time justifying paying for the expensive fuel.  For about 140 dollars a month, our gas furnace keeps our house at a blistering 59 degrees, far from comfortable when walking-in off the snow swept street.  To counterbalance the dip into freezing temperatures and avoidance of expensive natural gas bills that could total hundreds a month, I had to find an alternative heat source that would keep my toes warm and wallet full.

                What is the cheapest heat that isn’t firewood?  Electricity, and with new space-heaters designed to conserve energy and stress safety, space-heat was a warm-while investment for my house.  One can purchase an electric space-heater at the nearest hardware or home improvement store, or look through hundreds of models available online where consumer reports provide a detail description of model, output, safety, and cost into an easy to read format so that one can buy the heater designed for their specific needs.   I choose the Sunbeam Low Profile SLP3310-UM model, with EcoSmart technology at Home Depot for $ 50.00. Despite the technical name, my Sunbeam operates at 1500 watts and heats an entire living room/ kitchen area to a comfortable 68 degrees; automatic overheat and tip over turnoff ensure that our heating investment plan won’t backfire. Running the heater while we are awake only raises our electric bill from $25 dollars a month to about $40 a month; mere pennies when considering natural gas heating could push our bill over $200 dollars.  Space-heaters are a hot option that off campus students should consider before turning up that expensive thermostat; purchasing and operating totals could heat an entire home for a winter in what would cost 2 months to do the same with natural gas.  Cutting cost in half while keeping my ears warm makes space-heaters a logical alternative to counter attack whatever bad weather Pittsburgh will dish out.

Money.  What every college student wants but never has.  Paying for an education at Pitt is enough to consume an entire years earnings at minimum wage and that’s just the credits; students need thousands more to pay for a room, food, and other living amenities.  To counter balance higher education’s siphoning of funds, a student will need to find a source of income that does not violate their academic schedule. Susan Curtis from Manchester Metropolitan University studied work schedules of college students and found that 55% of all college students are now working either part or full time jobs.  Being a full time student leaves little room for free time, and according to Curtis, holding even a part time job takes its toll on students.  The study found that 26% of working students missed lectures due to an overlapping work schedule, and 16% failed to hand in course work because work prohibited them to turn it in or complete it on time.  With nearly a quarter of students missing class time because the boss has called is one of the many struggles of balancing occupation with academics.

Students must view their employment as an addition to their studies, that is schedule work hours around class time and create open time around busy school load periods.  It’s easiest to find a job that is willing to work with your school schedule that understands one’s commitment to college is their number one priority.  Most jobs cannot completely cater to students busy lives, in which case finding employment that presents the most  career and development opportunity or permits time to study and complete work while on the job is crucial.  Personally, I found alternative methods of receiving an income without succumbing to the demands of a strict work schedule: research studies.  Alternatives like these are everywhere if a student does some research (opening the Pitt News or reading a bulletin board) and are willing to donate their bodies to the development of beneficiary science.  Research studies aren’t for everyone, but they provide a decent income with flexible hours allowing for students to concentrate on studies and other activities.

Communicating with an employer, balancing school and work schedules, and multitasking are skills that are paramount for college students who live off campus.  It requires responsibility, discipline, and time management; failure to demonstrate these skills results in poor grades, loss of job, and worst of all, insufficient funds.  With 41% of off campus college students working to pay for their education and living arrangement, personal sacrifices and exhausting work and school days become the norm; events that build character, responsibility, and confidence reinforcing their motivation to become successful, academic, wage-earning students.

A calendar is an off campus students best friend.  Maintaining order and organization is paramount when it comes to finances for ones off campus apartment or house; our calendar is the glue in that bonds my roommates and me together.  Not that our calendar’s gorgeous Clouds Across America adds anything to relationships in the household, its cumulus and cirrus formations keep track of important dates, activities, and obligations.  This map of the future allows us to plot everything from gas meter readings to advisor meetings, concerts to South Park episodes;  Clouds Across America holds it all.  Keeping track of this information in a public setting (Clouds is located in a highly trafficked part of our house) allows for easy access by all living there to view and participate in the marked events.

                Most importantly, our calendar keeps track of our gas meter reading schedule, a ominous time of month where if you miss the Dominion guy that reads the meter in your basement, you’ll be trapped paying the average customer bill that month.  Doesn’t sound that bad?  In the month of August our gas bill was 78 bucks because that was the average for our area, but in September when we directed closer attention to the calendar and reported our meter reading to Dominion Gas, we were only charged 37 dollars.  Saving 40 dollars a month for simply marking the dates on a calendar is really, really, really easy; saving money feels even better.  This isn’t the only way Clouds Across America has saved me from shelling out extra loot, there’s the memos all over it that remind us when the water, electric, cable, and most importantly rent is due.  Missing this dates creates late fees, bad credit, and worst of all, system shutdown or eviction.  Now those are worst case scenarios, and as responsible students embarking on our adventure of living off campus I know we will never let our tardiness escalate to that degree, but it is common to lose track of time and obligations with a busy college schedule. 

                The calendar acts as the mother of our household; she reminds us of responsibilities and necessities, it keeps track of our events and obligations, and always greats us with a captivating image of natural beauty.  She has ‘I Owe You’s’ written down her margins, grocery lists the blank days, and highlighted reasons to celebrate holidays such as Native American Awareness day, but most importantly our calendar saves us money and prevents stress that can creep up on unsuspecting students as the semester rolls on.

Last week I wrote on some of the fundamental ways to ensure one’s car does not fall victim to theft, but it has been brought to my attention that there are other methods of on top of what I covered.  Thanks to helpful tips submitted by classmate Nick, I am able to provide more information on the subject.  Nick, who was a professional mobile electronics installer for over 3 years, suggested car owners pay attention too:

ü  AVOID WINDOW TINT.  Window tint not only gives thieves the notion you are hiding something, but also makes smashing a window a LOT less noisy, and less messy.

ü  PASSIVE ANTI-THEFT DEVICES.  The Club can easily be bypassed, but pedal locks like the “AutoLock” are MUCH harder to overcome.

ü  ACTIVE ANTI-THEFT SYSTEMS.  The blinking light of an alarm is often the fastest way to detour a thief.  Although audible alarms are often ignored by people in surrounding areas [especially in the city], they can cause thieves to leave.  Also many modern systems include paging features that page the owner up to a mile away when there is an issue.  Many alarms also include remote starting features that will allow your car to be warm for you in the cold months and cold in the summer.

ü  STEREOS.  If your stereo has a removable face, take it off and take it with you.  At first it is a hassle, but paying $300 to replace a window a thief shattered to get to the stereo you paid $100 for 3 years ago, is much worse.

I would like to thank Nick for his helpful critique and also like to point out that since I am documenting off campus living through my personal experiences, it is welcomed and appreciated when others leave comments or suggestions on what they’ve encountered or experienced living off campus.  As this blog is a learning tutorial for me, so are the lessons learned that I am writing about; there’s always room for improvement or a more efficient and effective way of doing things.  That’s a one of the most important aspects of successful off campus living, keeping eyes and ears open to new ideas and constructive criticism. Gathering information, advice, and stories from those around you is paramount in avoiding the same mistakes they committed or using what they found to be worthwhile.  Applying these solutions to one’s own living arrangement provides a starting point on figuring out what works best and can save the most resources and stress.

Maybe the greatest source of pain and suffering known to city dwellers is maintaining a personal motorized vehicle. For those that attend the University of Pittsburgh and have the luxury of walking or riding a bike to class and around the neighborhood, I am envious. These motivated and intelligent people brave the elements and carry bike locks, but the hassle they dodge by not owning four wheels is well worth the rain boots and mud flaps.  For those of us that are not so lucky and chose to keep our cars in and around Oakland during the school year know all too well the pitfalls of car ownership and responsibility.

                To avoid paying excessive fees associate with car ownership, one should consider these tips:

ü  Purchase parking pass from city municipal building as soon as one receives their address for the school year. Upon presentation of proof, a parking permit for the streets surrounding ones dwelling can be purchased for only $20 a year if you get lucky. The more limited the parking the higher in demand permits and prices can be.

ü  If one is commuting to school and wishes to park near the university, the sooner you buy a semester pass ($340…thanks for the info Lacee) the sooner you can rest easy that you won’t be ticketed for driving in for the day.

ü  Yes, parking enforcement, school or city, will find you. If you try and be sneaky you’ll be paying at least $15 per offense.

ü  For your cars wellbeing, avoid leaving anything visible that could be deemed valuable to anyone. This includes CDs, food, clothing, sporting goods, money, spare change, identification, pillows, blankets…anything.  The bad guys will find a use for it and a brick to make your window drop.

ü  Park as close to the curb as you can. This means one needs to be a professional parallel parker, one can practice at their local DMV or in a quiet parking spot around town.  Your side mirrors and bumper paint will be grateful.

ü  And of course, always keep windows up and doors locked.  Park in the most well lit areas but the best way to prevent auto theft or break-in is to give your vehicle the appearance of least value in and out to ensure that it will camouflage with the landscape.

The University of Pittsburgh is the heart Oakland, filling the community with buildings of higher education, hospitals, and thousands of residence associated with the school.  Although the University dominates most of the landscape, it is still located in a major metropolitan center where students participate in an urban and culturally diversified neighborhood.  Campus security provides protection to those living on campus and around South Oakland, so even if a problem does arise, campus and Pittsburgh city police are 3 numbers away no matter if a student is living on or off campus.  But what about the students who live away from the bright campus lights and emergency call boxes, are they doomed to be a victim of rape or violence?

                NO! Living in South Oakland is in no way more dangerous than any other community surrounding the city; a negative and ridiculous idea exists that low income (student housing included) bring crime, violence, and danger to any and all who traverse the sidewalks off 5^th and Forbes Avenue.  That being said, there are simple and smart things students living off campus can do to ensure that their safety continues.  Get to know your neighbors, being friends or at least acquainted is the first step in developing safety and knowledge of what surrounds you.  Travel in couples or groups; there is always a sense of safety with numbers.  Lock all windows and doors when leaving your house or apartment, steel bars covering glass makes any dwelling a virtual fortress. Avoid confrontation and contact with shady characters; self confidence and continuous motion are the best deterrents to dodging potential run-ins.  Awareness of surroundings is crucial, being distracted by headphones, cell phones, or intoxication can limit ones senses to properly address the situation.  Avoid over the top displays of wealth, excessive jewelry to parties or a wallet full of bills benefits no one.  I advise to leave all credit cards and personal information behind when leaving ones house to ensure that your identity and bank account belong only to you.  I have found that conscientious communication skills will defuse 99% of any problem presented to a student, but at worst case scenario never resort to counter attack or violence.  Pacifists may not look as tough, but they live to see another beautiful day.  I feel that all these easy and simple reminders of public safety paint South Oakland to be a danger filled ghetto waiting to cash-in on unsuspecting students, but the truth is it’s a safe and secure neighborhood comprised of fellow students and peers.  Don’t fall victim to the myth and prejudice surrounding urban living to be a scary and fearful environment; instead, embrace the vibrant student culture that make South Oakland an awesome place to live off campus.

As the semester progresses so do the issues I encounter with living off campus.  A lesson I learned very quickly was cleanliness.  Living in house with 2 other college guys proves to be a never ending battle of dirty dishes, dirty laundry, and dirty floors.  Unlike home where parental supervision regulates house cleaning and duties, and dorm living where there are little to no dishes to clean, keeping ahead of the mess is a constant task.  I have now learned to incorporate ways of cleaning in my everyday routine. Although this issue seems elementary, one can find several ways of reducing energy and resource consumption to save on utilities. For example, we wash dishes by hand so we don’t use the water wasting dishwasher.  Rugs and shoes at the door reduce dirt brought in off the street, cutting back sweeping sessions. We combine washer loads of laundry and strung a network of clothes lines in our basement to avoid dryer use.  Recycling is compacted and stored in a large trash bag in the basement and transported to our parent’s homes for proper disposal when we visit. 

                All of these measures and techniques might seem simple and inherit, but for 3 housecleaning greenhorns it’s been a great lesson learned.  Not only have the skills and daily practice of maintaining a clean household been established, we have also reduced our electric and water bills with our savvy sterile ways.  These cost saving strategies and feel good effect of our recycling system prove to be an advantage living off campus; on campus living provides little opportunity to create such methods.  Within the first month of living on my own I’ve excepted the fact that a clean house is a happy house, and it really makes me happy when I save money just by using other alternatives that also benefit our environment.  I never knew so many benefits existed when examining one small aspect of a usually unnoticed daily routine.  That’s the beauty of living with a cost efficient lens of reality; you adapt and benefit from your actions.

Welcome to the new learning experience of my blog.  I was excited to enter the realm of blogosphere, but of course ‘edublogs’ has since decided to make it extremely frustrating to load new profiles. So as I adapt and find solutions for creating my blog, I have also begun the process of researching and outlining my early thoughts of my issue; achieving success in living off campus while not spending more to obtain this independence.  I love the start of school, a breath of fresh air, starting new with every opportunity to succeed academically and socially.  The social aspect is not isolated to peer to peer interaction but also finding and adapting to a schedule and living situation.  To this degree I’ve faired better than the existence of my blog; only missing one class, exercising regularly (kind of), and managing my living arrangement to the best of a rookie’s ability.

                Living off campus is by far the best improvement I’ve made over last school year.  Starting my freshman year in the dorms was a necessary experience, forcing social and living routine interactions with others. The second semester I commuted from home, battling Pittsburgh’s ruthlessly ugly winter.  Now stationed in South Oakland, I not only feel much more confident of my living situation, but motivated not to repeat my past endeavors.  I strive to ‘make it’ on my own this year, that is being responsible of my grades, social, and financial obligations. This requires change and maturation; with each bill that greets me when I open my mailbox I am constantly reminded that “livin’ ain’t easy”.  Gone are the days when I used to expect and Mom and Dad to foot payments, bills, living cost, and schedule planning.  Now with each care package and gallon of milk Mom packs in my car when I visit I am grateful for the generosity.  This semester I will document and argue the benefits of living off campus and enjoying a new sense of independence from the university and home. Although it may not be as comfortable or easy, I believe one can actually save some money and enjoy the satisfaction of self-governing success.