Creating a comfortable familiarity may be challenging for students moving into a new environment, but many students have learned to build a home by customizing their apartment to their own personal taste and hobbies or by filling it with college memories.
Rebekah Leininger, sophomore visual arts major, said she did not have an excessively difficult time making the transition to college. She said she spent went to school for five years at a boarding school prior to coming to California Baptist University and adding personal touches to her apartment in the Colony Apartments made it feel more comfortable.
“I put pictures on the wall and posters that I have brought from home,” Leiniger said. “I also put art up and I have my pottery up because it makes it feel like home.”
Some students enjoy bringing the atmosphere of community to their living space by leaving their doors open for anyone to stop by and say hello, making it a place people can go to feel relaxed in their own space.
Keira Burgeson, sophomore applied statistics major, said she makes her apartment comfortable by having small social events and birthday gatherings at her apartment in the Lancer Arms living area. She said having people in the house built a community-like atmosphere.
“Being able to surround myself around people that I am familiar with and do some fun activities with in my apartment makes it feel a lot like a home,” Burgeson said.
Having items around the house that have sentimental value have the possibility of giving it a personal touch though the decorations throughout the apartment.
“I also have up pictures of friends and family and that makes it feel like a home too,” Burgeson said.
She said her roommates put up their own decorations on the walls and around the apartment as well, making their dynamics seem more like a family’s and the apartment more like a home.
