For those of us who have fairly recently entered into the adventure that is apartment living, there are plenty of pros -- but also some cons that hit you pretty hard. Only one year into the apartment life, I’ve learned a lot from my attempts at adult life. From laundry to neighbors to roommates, there are plenty of wins to be had, as well as many meltdowns.

Pros:

1. Housemates

Lots of love for living with other people. I love having a housemate, because life would just be lonely without one. It also helps that we’re best friends. Coming home to hang out is fun and relaxing. We usually spend the first half hour or so telling each other about our day, whether that means complaining until the end of time or getting really excited... or just being tired. Sometimes (and by sometimes, I mean most of the time) we just sit together, not really watching TV or carrying on conversation, and we’re just tired together. We sigh occasionally.

For anyone that has a roommate and shares their bedroom, bless your soul. I did it for my freshman year of college in a dorm, and while it wasn’t that bad, I don’t think I could ever do it again. There are certainly good times to be had with a roommate, but that one I will have to throw under the cons of apartment living.

2. Being on your own, kind of

Let’s all be honest, we love our parents so much, but being mostly on our own is really cool too. The key word being “mostly.” I still call my mom and dad when I have questions about adult things that I consider to be an undertaking. A majority of those undertakings get worked into the cons list. Plus, there’s always the rare time when you figure it out on your own, and that’s just satisfying.

3. Grocery shopping

Mom always made great dinner every night at home, and your first few meals by yourself might be a bit rough -- but admit it, sometimes you get creative in the kitchen and try new things you haven’t cooked before. You’ll go to the grocery store every once in awhile too and just buy yourself a small cake for dinner and call it good. Ben & Jerry’s pulls a close second to the cake. Grocery shopping by yourself is another one of those satisfying things. Plus, with housemates, you get to cook fun little family dinners, too.

Cons:

1. Laundry

For a few years before I moved out, I did my own laundry at home, but for some, it’s your first time. Laundry is one of the less fun responsibilities, especially in apartment living. It usually requires quarters, unless you’re fortunate enough to have a washer and dryer in your unit. My building charges $1.25 per wash and $2.00 per dry, which really adds up. You start deciding that maybe those yoga pants can go one more wear before the wash. Then they go three more wears before the wash.

Then there’s the fact that the washer and dryer are a shared thing among your building so you inevitably end up taking a stranger’s underwear out of the washer when you’re desperate for work clothes. That's the worst part about laundry. Other people’s laundry. Even when it's clean, it’s weird to handle a stranger’s underwear.

2. Neighbors

Oh, the joy of apartment neighbors. They’re above you, below you, on the left side of your unit and on the right side of your unit. Your neighbors are everywhere, and not all of them appreciate noise. You have to make sure you don’t sound like Bigfoot to your downstairs neighbors, and make sure you don’t yell for your neighbors on all the other sides. And don’t you dare party too hard in your own apartment; they might knock on your door in a rage.

While there’s definitely a need to have a level of respect for everyone else’s living environment, let’s have a little fun sometimes, please.

3. Parking spaces

I've encountered this issue multiple times since moving into my apartment. My housemate and I are allotted two parking spaces, and then there are five visitor spaces to share between 18 units total. That makes having more than one friend over hard. Carpooling is an absolute must, and friends are rarely granted a plus one if they're not taking the same car over.

Through all the pros and cons of apartment living, I still love my cute little apartment. It's my small slice of glorious adulthood while I'm still in college, and it's a lot of fun. Of course, since I'm living on my own, there is no one but me to kill the mammoth spiders that creep silently into my house and sit on my wall just out of reach to mock me. I'll admit I've had my housemate come kill a few spiders for me because I just couldn't do it. Aside from the spiders, living on my own has been pretty awesome.