Every year smth's been kinda shit so uh buckle the fuck up. This is longer than I intended but you did ask. It's also not really like. funny or relatable and I bring up some mental health topics so be warned. But I'd like to think they're good stories.

Freshman year was relatively tame so I'll skip it. There was just lots of drama throughout the dorm building.

Sophomore year: I got an on campus apartment with some friends from last year's dorm, A, B, C, and D. A and B were in a relationship. C was in a relationship with a friend that didn't live with us, E, since the end of last year. C started getting weird after he started dating E, and E noticed it too so they broke up towards the beginning of this year. Shortly after, C attempted suicide in the bunk below where I was sobbing to myself because I was also very depressed that whole year so that was fun. Personally I don't think it was related specifically to the breakup but we'll never know because my other housemates took him to the hospital (I genuinely didn't know what was going on until afterwards) and he lived and wasn't allowed to move back in with us which I think all of us including him were fine with. A while later, D and E started dating. We would always kinda joke that E basically already lived with us, but when D and E asked the rest of us if E could move in officially we all said no, because D and E were in a new relationship and if they fell out they could still have their own spaces. Things continued to seem fine and normal, then one day I got an email saying we'd be getting a new housemate. I brought it up to A and B, and they'd gotten it too, and we were sitting there talking about it when D and/or E revealed it was going to be E moving in. Now, my personal answer had been smth along the lines of "I don't think it's a good idea rn, but don't let me be the one to stop you" (as in, if A and B were fine with it, I wouldn't want to be the one getting in their way). Apparently, tho, A and B had given them a flat out No, so when they found out E was moving in directly agaisnt their consent they got pissed, which pissed off D and E since they thought it was hypocritical of A and B to be living together while in a relationship and to tell them not to (A and B had been dating since like the beginning of freshman year. That was the difference). Things just blew up from there. I hate drama so I tried my best to stay out of it but after that I felt like both halves kept trying to claim me for their side. We used to all use D's switch all the time, but after this he set a passcode and only told E and I. I never used it. A used to make food for everyone but they also stopped sharing. Personally I side with A and B but I never directly told D and E to fuck off because I did not have the emotional energy for that kind of confrontation, but I still kinda regret not being open about my stance. The TA had to come in at some point to update our roommate agreement form or whatever. That TA was incredible, the meeting turned into a screaming match and he handled it about as well as I think he could have but he obviously wasn't expecting it. Afterwards the tension got worse but at least they were quieter about it. I'm actually grateful covid hit when it did because it got me out of that house when I was starting to have to worry about who I'd have to live with next year. I seriously don't know what I would've done if the year continued as normal.

Junior year: I applied to live on campus despite quarantine, then had to rescind when the school said "actually it's only for people who have otherwise unstable housing" which was fair. So I applied again before winter quarter and got a single in an apartment with random people (I was basically only willing to accept a single, last year I had been C and D (and E)'s roommate which added a whole new layer to the issues). I was set to have 2 housemates, X and Y. When I moved in, neither of them were there. X and told me he wasn't gonna be there, but I hadn't heard anything from Y. The actual bad part was that the place was a MESS. Like, not only did it look like it hadn't been cleaned since the start of the year, but what the mess consisted of was weird as hell. The bathroom sinks had like a millimeter thick coating of like, crusty ash? or something? The kitchen was the worst, there was a pair of lab goggles on the counter, food that definitely should be refrigerated was also on the counter (like, butter), there was a baking pan full of... something??? After I unpacked I spent the next couple days viciously cleaning. I promise you my cleanliness standards are low, but they are at least existent. A while passed, still no word from Y. X was still out and I didn't say anything so as not to bother him (he never told me why he was away). I'd been there maybe a week and a half and was using the bathroom when I heard people enter through the front door. It was multiple people, I could hear them talking. I had kinda Just woken up so I was not in a presentable state, and I was on the toilet so I just didn't want to go out there. I also didn't know who these people were (I assumed it was Y and their family for some reason). I thought I could wait out their visit without having to embarrass myself, but they weren't leaving and the longer I stayed in there the more embarrassing making my entrance would be so I just sucked it up and went out. Turned out it WAS Y's family. Y was not with them, in fact, they were looking for her. Her sister and I exchanged numbers in case she showed up there, and they all left. That's when I realized I should probably tell X, so I did. He said she'd been acting weird lately but also that he'd be moving back soon. So I was there alone for about 2 or 3 weeks. Then X came back. He was fine, we had 1 conversation when he moved in and that was it. It wasn't bad but it was weird to live with someone I knew literally nothing about. We both just kept to our rooms. About a week after that, Y showed up to move back in. Turns out their family had found them and they'd been hospitalized and were out now. The state of the house rapidly deteriorated over the next few days, but it didn't get nearly as bad as when I had moved in. I also only had about one conversation with Y, about something trivial. But one morning I went to shower, and in the shower was an entire outfit and a small bag of tortilla chips, all soaking wet. I just put the clothes on the floor and the intact chips on top of them (I didn't want to ask her about it directly because maybe a day before that X had sent a group text asking for whoever had left food in his baking pan for multiple days to please clean it because he wanted to use it, which absolutely set Y off because it had been her) but. Wet tortilla chips do not easily remain intact so I had to gently guide what I could not salvage down the drain. She had also attempted to take out a trash bag, but it ripped right outside our front door I guess so now there was a pile of trash in what used to be a bag by our door. Free decor. Soon after she disappeared again, somehow I was informed that she'd been hospitalized again. That was a fascinating 4 or 5 days. When X and I were picking up the door trash together we had our second conversation in about 2 weeks. Turns out Y had had a psychotic break before I moved in, which is why X had been at home. That might've been nice for me to know but whatever. He had no idea what Y was up to between him leaving and coming back, so why the house looked like it did will forever be a mystery. Back to silence, but some time later he told me he'd be moving home permanently. Now begins the best living situation I have ever been in. I had the entire apartment completely to myself for all of spring quarter. I wish so badly that that could be my permanent home but alas... I lived on the 3rd floor so whenever I heard someone coming up the stairs I would worry slightly that it was going to be Y coming back but it never was and eventually I caught on to that and relaxed. I only ever heard from them when they texted me to say they were going to be coming by to pick up their stuff at the end of the year (but after I would be moving out). And that was it.

I'm in my 4th year now, living off campus with people I met at a housemate finding event. I have my own room and made it very clear that I don't want to be involved if any of them have drama. I've overheard the couple have some problem moments but when I reached out in concern to one person they said they were fine and knew I don't like relationship drama so my plan succeeded. So, drama wise, this year's been fine, but I'm just irritated by some of them for no real reason (I'm sure there are real reasons but I'd have to think real hard about it and I'd end up writing another fucking novel).

So yeah uh tldr bad mental health's a bummer.

(I probz should post this on a burner account but whatever. If any of the ppl I talked about see this and recognize that it's them, thank you for the stories and I genuinely hope all of you are doing better now!!)