Hey friends! I’m sitting on my bed right now, listening to some Mumford and Sons, sipping on some coffee and I thought I should write a little bit about living on residence.
Initially, I wasn’t even going to live on residence. Brampton didn’t seem that far away from the campus and commuting seemed the way to go. I’m not sure what changed our minds but eventually, my parents and I decided living on residence would be worth it and it really was.
Living with a roommate: I loved living with my roommate, Barbara. In the beginning, I realized that not many people had asked for a roommate and so, we were quite the oddity. However, it IS more common to have a roommate in residence now.
The best part of having a roommate was having somebody to talk to whenever I needed a friend.We didn’t spend too much time together outside of the times we were both in our room but I think that was the key to a successful roommate relationship. Although, it is completely okay to spend lots of time with your roommate!
Every roommate dynamic is different, that’s what makes it so fun. We got along so well we decided to live together in our second year as well.
Tips for living with a roommate would be outlining what you both require or what boundaries you need to maintain from sharing a room. For example, if one of you goes to bed early then it would be good to say from the very beginning that you may be asleep earlier than the other person and to ask that that person is careful of the noise they make when they come back from evening classes or late at night. 
This can all be discussed with your roommate over the summer before you both move in or in your first week of moving in. Oh yeah – it also means that you have an automatic friend at Glendon if you’re both participating in Frosh Week – score!
Living on an all girls floor vs. co-ed floor: In my first year, I lived on a co-ed floor. In second year, I moved onto the all girls floor and have lived here ever since.
The decision was solely based on wanting to live on the same floor as one of my close friends. I really can’t say that there was that much of a difference between the two. My floor-mates were all very respectful of each other on both types of floors. It’s really all about what you’re comfortable with. It’s a safe and welcoming environment on every floor.
Your experience on residence is also not limited to your floor – you’re free to go to the other floors and some res events are held on other floors so you get to meet and talk to other residents from all over residence and campus as a whole.
1) Respect your floor-mates:
As much as Glendon will become your home, it is important to remember that it is also the home of the other thirty people you live with. Among your floor-mates, you will have those who are in third and fourth year who really need the peace and quiet, those with early classes in the morning, those who are trying to study, etc.
When you move into residence, you’ll have a house meeting with all of the other people on your floor. At this time, you’ll discuss what sorts of things you should be careful of to not make that much noise (ex: slamming doors, talking in the bathroom at night as it echoes, etc.).
You’ll also have a helpful Don to go to if you find that there are any issues or concerns with noise or anything at all. Every night, there is also a Don on Duty that you can call if you have any concerns as well.
2) Do not bring your entire closet with you in September and don’t wait until April to take it home with you:
I definitely made this mistake in First Year. For some reason, I thought that I was moving into residence in September and not leaving until April…..wrong. However, if you are living on residence and you live very far from home, you may actually need to do this.
But, if you’re planning on going home every now and again, it’s not imperative that you bring all of your clothes in the beginning of the year. You’ll have time to go back home and bring the rest of the clothes with you then.
Also, it’s always better to bring clothes home once seasons are ending. So, when the weather is getting colder, that’s a good time to take some of your spring and summer clothes home with you.
The same goes for when the weather gets a bit warmer. This way, you don’t have too much to pack when the school year ends in April. Four years later, I think I MAY get by without a comment from my Mom or Dad about packing too much (…maybe).
3) Grocery store + cafeteria food = happy student
I have been asked by prospective students about the food options at Glendon. If you’re living on residence, the caf will be your main place to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are some really yummy options in the caf – my personal favourite is the deluxe breakfast (2 eggs, sausage, hashbrowns and toast) and the pasta station.
We have a wok station, salad station, candy station, the grill, wrap station, pizza station, and a station whose name I forget but it has delicious lunch and dinner options such as perogies, mashed potatoes, meat and veggies, or TACOS…I LOVE TACOS.
There is also Keele campus food options. The other campus is only a 40 minute free shuttle ride away and provides you with a whole other number of options – Thai Express, Mac’s Sushi, Hero Burger, yum, yum, yum. There’s the Underground which is a restaurant that I’ve gone to a bunch of times with my friends as another dinner option.
It can be useful to give yourself a whole range of options for meals. I personally like to eat a lot of vegetarian food although I’m not vegetarian (my Mom is a vegetarian so I’ve grown up on stealing her food muhahaha).
I like to have lots of fruit in my fridge and some breakfast type foods to grab on go when I’m off to class in the morning. So, I go to the Metro which is a $3 bus fare/5 minute ride away and pick up some groceries every 2 weeks or so.
4) Not going to pub night? Make your Thursday night whatever kinda night you want it to be:
When you’re in First Year and not of legal age, Thursdays might seem like a night that you’re not involved in….WRONG. Thursday night is whatever night you want to make it. Whether you’re 18 or you don’t like to drink, there are usually events on the same nights as pub night as an alternative option.
You’re also only a $3 bus ride away from Lawrence Station – you have the whole of Toronto to explore! You could go see a movie at Yonge and Eglinton, go grab some yummy dinner, go shopping at the Eaton Centre – your options are limitless. In my First Year, we would grab a bunch of snacks, order a pizza, and watch Jersey Shore (Ya, I feel old now….thanks everyone).
5) Use the weekends on residence to your advantage:
Every year, my time on campus has been different. Some years I went home every weekend but this year, I’ve stayed at Glendon for a majority of the weekends. But, I love it.
It’s three days to get some of my readings out of the way, to catch up on all of the shows I’m watching, to play Sims (not kidding), and to go out and enjoy the city. There are events held on campus and events held on your floor or in your residence. So, you’re never out of options.
I hope that these tips and my overview was helpful even in the slightest bit to answer some of the questions you might have had about living on residence. If you have any more, you can always tweet me @beckielhgl or post in the #GL2019 Facebook Group and I’ll answer as soon as I can. Until next time!
#Glendonite 