By Gabriel Dufurrena
 
I hate my roommates. I mean I love them, but it gets old waking up every morning to a sink full of dirty dishes that aren’t mine, a hair-covered bathroom that is occupied more often than not and the collective musk of five dudes. I’ve always fantasized about living alone, but part of me feels like I couldn’t hack the loneliness. To learn more about the experience, I talked to Mohammed Murad, who has been living alone since September, to get a better sense of the ins-and-outs of living on your lonesome.
Emerald Essentials: What was your previous living situation like?
Mo Murad: Freshman year I lived in the dorms. Hamilton. Coed. Sophomore year I lived with three random guys. Well, two random guys, one girl in 13th and Olive. I didn’t like that cuz I was right above the gym. And then last year I lived in the orange house over there with [three guys].
EE: What made you want to live alone?
MM: Grades, academically. I tried living with roommates. It was distracting, especially from last year. Used to be a party house and everything. My grades went to the floor. I like my own space too. I can play music, do my own thing, concentrate. I like it that way, yeah.
EE: What was the biggest lifestyle change?
MM: Lifestyle change? I’ve been living with a bunch of roommates before, so everybody had a bunch of responsibilities. Like you know, you have a responsibility, you have a responsibility. On your back, like you gotta do this, you gotta do that. You get to control your own pace. So yeah it actually kinda improved my sense of responsibility to take care of my household. Other than living with roommates, when you gotta depend and all that stuff.
EE: How has your diet changed since you lived alone?
MM: Oh. I was actually kinda better; been getting a lot better actually. Cuz when I used to live with the roommates and everything, we had limited fridge space, so you know, you always gotta maintain, you know, have small quantities of everything, zip zaps and then you know like your roommate gets drunk one night and just takes all of your lettuce. You have no fucking salad, you have no salad for the next day, so you have to go, you know, go grab something, some shit, or meat, or whatever. Now it’s like, much more better. Sometimes when I’m lazy, I’ll just order myself a pizza, but you know, who doesn’t do that?
EE: You talked a lot about how your grades were a big reason. So how has your work ethic changed since you started living alone?
MM: Well back last year, freshman year, sophomore year, I always had these noise problems. Freshman year: dorms, everyone is going crazy. Sophomore year: I lived above the gym so it was a mess. Last year I was in a party house so I had to go to the library all the time and all that stuff and sometimes I would come back and they would still be partying and I would have work to do and all that stuff. Here it is much better. I can relax, go on the couch, watch some TV, low volume. If I want to get serious, I go over there, my bedroom, or go down, they have a study hall, little study place, works great. I’m more focused. I go to the library sometimes. I usually do that. I think it’s been good.
EE: What’s the best part of living alone?
MM: Woah. Well I can say definitely privacy, you know, privacy. You get some time for yourself. You get to know yourself more. You know what they say: you’re at this limbo stage of boredom or you don’t know what to do with yourself so you figure out things to do with yourself, so you get to know stuff, you get to learn stuff. You know, this is me, I like to go and read up on something or do something. Get a puzzle, try doing yo-yo or stuff like that. I never knew how to do a yo-yo; now I do.
EE: Very cool. What’s the worst part of living alone?
MM: Sometimes you do get bored, sometimes you do feel like you want to go out but your friends aren’t there, or most of your friends are busy, so you gotta figure out stuff to do. You get cooped up so you gotta change it up. The trick is always to change it up. Never stay stationary.
EE: How many different arrangements of the couch and coffee table have you done now?
MM: Well the coffee table I’ve moved about three times, cuz I got a bird… that died.
EE: Oh bummer.
MM: Yeah I had a bird. I had a little parakeet. Took me forever for him to love me. Like the last day, before he died, I got him to come up on my shoulder and we had such a great time.
EE: Would you want to live alone again after this year?
MM: Um, yeah actually I don’t mind it at all. I prefer it. I like to keep time for myself and time for my friends and time for my academia. That’s kind of why I do it. You should only live alone if you’re feeling uncomfortable not living alone. You should not live alone if you are cooped up in the head… just kidding. If you’re an extrovert and you just want to go out and have fun most of the time. If people feel agitated like all their lonesome time, don’t be alone. Or if you don’t know how to take care of yourself. People who just like mess around, don’t do it. It’s a responsibility. If you don’t have responsibility, do not live alone. I’ll say it’s a bit costly, but it is worth it for a nice good peace of mind. If you prefer peace of mind over other stuff, I say go for it.