This summer I have the opportunity to work on campus giving tours and working in the TU Office of Admission. As rising juniors, a significant number of my friends decided to stay in Tulsa to complete internships, summer classes, and to take the summer as an opportunity to try to make it on their own. I am living on campus in an apartment and so far it has been a fun adjustment. The past two years I have lived in a residence hall, and next year I will continue working in the residence hall with the first-year residents. I am super excited for this! However, by living in an apartment over the summer, knowing I will be moving back into the residence hall in a few months, has been a fine balance between getting what I need to function over the summer and making sure I can still fit all of the things I do get back into my room next year. An on-going joke between my friends and I is that I am a squatter in the apartment for the summer. My room is pretty empty with just an air mattress set out on the floor. Even my alarm clock and my lamp just sit conveniently on the floor next to my bed.
I’ve already learned quite a few lessons living on my own. On the first day I got back to Tulsa for the summer, my roommate and I went to Target so I could pick up all the essentials. When we got back, climbed the stairs to the third floor and unloaded everything, we realized I forgot to get a shower curtain. It wasn’t such a big deal until the next day when all I wanted to do was take a shower. It’s comical now, but at the time trying to take a shower without flooding the bathroom while missing a shower curtain was a real struggle. That afternoon we ran back to Target to get one and this time when we came back we realized we had forgotten the shower rings to hang up the curtain. It is these little things that no one reminds you about when you live on your own.
I’m really excited to have the chance to spend my first summer in Tulsa, whether it’s learning how to live on my own for the first time, giving tours or exploring the city. If you come and visit campus this summer, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be the one showing you around, and I’ll try my best not to let you melt in the summer heat!
