Tag Archives: roommates

Living in NYC: Dorm Hacks

Living in NYC can be quite an experience, but it is truly what you make it. Here is a 5 helpful dorm hacks/tips that I have found helpful over my last two years dorming at FIT!

1. Make a chore list:

It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but you need one. Things will get messy, and if chores aren’t given to certain people, roomies will end up feeling bitter and angry. Although you can choose your roommates, you never know what type of person they REALLY are!

2. Change the way you fold:

Anyone ever tell you that rolling shirts makes a difference in small spaces? Well… it does! Rolling your clothes makes more space in the little space that we have… and honestly, it looks kinda cool!

3. Keep extra money on your laundry card:

Yes, yes, yes, laundry at FIT isn’t free… it’s $2.50 for a wash and dry. Nonetheless, sometimes things happens, machines don’t work to their full function, or you accidentally spilled something on your favorite sweater and since the card machine only takes $5, $10, or $20 bills keeping it ready for any fashion-mergency is a must!

4. Utilize the workrooms:

Each FIT housing residence has a workroom with light-tables, open space and room for students of all majors to work on anything, at any time. Working on campus can be nice, but if you’re ever in need of a quick location to get things done, just head downstairs to your workroom!

5. Be nice to security:

One great thing I will always say is to be nice to anyone and everyone because it can help you out! Saying hello or good morning can get you a open gate in Kaufman when you’re struggling with all of your bags to get your ID out.

Annoying Apartments

So, I finally decided to move out of the dorms and stake out on my own. I had heard that looking for real estate in New York City was hard, but heeeyy it can’t be that bad, right? “It will be fiiiiiine” I told myself.

omg totes gonna be my apartment

Um…no.

There are many reasons why looking for an apartment in New York is so frustrating, but I think most stem from people changing their minds. One of the biggest issues I had was finding a roommate. This didn’t seem so hard at first, I was going to live with one of my friends who hadn’t moved in with the rest of our group in their place on Wall Street. Great, awesome. Fast forward to the middle of the summer before the semester starts and all of the sudden she is graduating a semester early and then moving back home to go to grad school. I mean, I’m happy for her of course, but it put me in a really crappy position. Then, I met this guy through a friend of mine who was also looking for an apartment near Columbia because he was going to start grad school. I met him, he seemed chill, so we decided to go in it together. However, neither of us was really doing a good job researching places and it kind of hung in the air for a while. Then a friend of mine who just graduated from FIT said he wanted to look for a place on the west side so he wouldn’t have to commute from Long Island for his job anymore. Great! I told Columbia guy “Sorry, I have to back out,” and he said he was going to tell me the same anyway because he got into med school! New roommate guy was an actual friend of mine and I looked forward to living together. Well, living with a guy who is not your significant other made finding the right apartment even harder (i.e. two bedrooms only, and railroads are not an option). Add in some inflexibility about location and price and the situation becomes almost impossible. Finally, after many frantic lunch break and after work trips up, down, and all over town I found one that would work for us! Only to have him tell me he decided he wanted to continue commuting to save money to go to grad school next year. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I mean I didn’t take it very personally, I know that I am not hard to live with, but it was incredibly frustrating to have seemingly every option presented pulled out from under me just as I thought it was really going to work out. Eventually I met my new roommate through the last guy I was supposed to live with. It was scary jumping into a year long contract with someone I had only met once or twice, but it all worked out fine. She’s super nice and incredibly easy to live with as well.

There are other issues, like the speed at which apartments are put on the market and then sold, pushy brokers and their exorbitant fees, picky landlords, and just finding a place that actually works and you feel comfortable in. Yet, I do find it really nice to be able to come home to my own place after class or work and truly not feel like I am still in school. It has also pushed me much further into becoming more responsible. I have to pay my bills on time now, budget my money and be extra careful about my own safety. Am I adult-ing yet?

my new room! yayy!!

–Emily–

New York is more than a city, it’s a State.

Everyone often thinks when they come here that Manhattan accounts for the whole entirety of New York. I’m here to tell you there is something beyond Van Cortlandt Park – 242 St (and I bet you don’t even ride the subway thaaaat far.) So, this weekend I decided to adventure out to Fishkill Farm with my roommates and have a study break before midterms. We planned everything in advance (a skill you will acquire here) to ensure we were all wearing plaid because after all this is a fashion school.

Apple and pumpkin picking is actually cooler than it sounds, especially when you go with your friends. Just picture a mini-road trip, blasting 90’s music singing Spice Girls “Wannabe”, on the Taconic State Parkway with the windows rolled down. (Yep, it was that good.) Well, not taking into account being carsick for the first half of the trip since it’s been two months that you haven’t been in a car. (you said it, first world problems haha) After walking through the orchards free loading on apples, we decided to pick a few and make sure we had enough for the pies we wanted to bake. I of course bought a caramel apple kit, acknowledging once we were back in the city reality would hit (aint’t nobody got time for pies).

My first time!

While my friends decided to come back into the city, I decided to stay over at my aunt’s (I mean what Dominican doesn’t have an aunt in NY?). On Sunday, she took me to Rockefeller State Park Preserve, a hidden gem. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Carpe Diem, Sadie

Officially in Love