College is the period in life when most students are on their own for the first time. For many, it’s a step outside their comfort zones, both in terms of sheer scale and the diversity of the UCLA student population and Los Angeles. With that can come the challenges of living on your own, studying on campus and conducting relationships with both friends and strangers. Whether you’re a returning student or new to campus, everyone could always use a refresher on polite standards of behavior.
Here are a few common scenarios you’re likely to encounter on campus during the school year, if you haven’t already, and how to best navigate them to keep your friendships, sanity and integrity intact.
Stuff-watching at libraries and campus restaurants
We’ve all been there – having to go to the bathroom at Powell Library during Week 5, or needing to pick up your coffee from Northern Lights while you’re sitting outside on the patio. In general, this should be a no-brainer. For the sake of the stuff-watcher’s time, be considerate and keep your absences from your backpack and study setup as short as possible – 15 minutes is probably the ideal maximum time.
Storing stuff at people’s apartments – how to repay them
Although it’s probably too late for those that stored things over the summer at their friend’s places, this is good to keep in mind in general. That being said, free storage is never truly ‘free’ – as an LA native, I stored two friends’ things during the summer after my freshman year. Both relationships became strained when both friends asked to store heavy printers that took up significant space in my bedroom.
If you want to use your friends’ apartments or houses as storage, it’s probably best to repay them in some way – take them out for a drink, or perhaps even a meal (depending on the amount and size of boxes and possessions you stored). It can soothe any built-up resentment from a summer of tripping over your friend’s monstrous printer.
Elevator floors / Taking the stairs
In a neighborhood as hilly as Westwood, elevators are a godsend. At the same time, on a campus of over 28,000 people, stopping at every floor on your way to the top floors of Bunche Hall can be annoying. If you’re going fewer than two flights up, take the stairs. Also, refrain from talking on the phone or having loud, personal conversations on the elevator.
Subletting
Technically, subletters have no rights accorded to them by the city of Los Angeles. Subletting is essentially an obligation-free way of renting a room (usually no lease to sign or deposit to put down), and popular for anyone whose school-year housing situation will be interrupted by study abroad or summer school. That being said, both those who sublet and those who provide the sublet could be better guarded by a few rules.
For those who sublet rooms or beds, be considerate of your new temporary roommates, and in general be as clean as possible. Wash any bedding for furnished sublets before leaving, and make sure you pay rent in a timely manner. Establish rules for chores and overnight or common area guests with your new roommates.
For those that provide sublets, you theoretically can demand whatever you want in terms of raising rents and demanding early departure. That being said, UCLA is a community, not a housing market designed to gouge fellow students. Unless you can’t help it, keep your sublet price stable and agree to set dates of departure and arrival. Being stuck without housing is always an awful situation, so pay it forward and be a gracious sublet provider!
Sexiling
Open discussion of private bedtime space in shared rooms can be awkward, but it’s definitely necessary. If you have a consistent partner, consider sharing your entire regular schedule with your roommate(s) so they know when to make themselves scarce. If you find that your sexual opportunities are more sporadic, give as much advance notice as possible – shooting a text earlier in the evening is better than no notice at all. Also, avoid impromptu sexiling more than twice a month, or as frequently as your roommate is also sexiling you – whichever fits your situation better. Before your roommate comes back, clean up any mess from your encounter to avoid any awkward conversations.
Asking for or receiving notes when absent
For those non-podcasted classes, getting someone else’s notes may be your only recap of the day’s material. If you can, get the contact information for 1-2 classmates early on, so you aren’t scrambling before a midterm to recap one random missed day’s lecture notes. In general, after asking for notes, it’s polite to bug them about after 48 hours if they haven’t sent a Google Doc link or link via Dropbox.