Author: Parker Harris

Quidditch Player, Finance Major, Level Designer, and Cosplayer
Finding Your Apartment

Finding Your Apartment

Hey, glad you stopped by my post. I’m here to share with you some quick key tools/ideas you should use and consider when getting ready to rent out your own apartment!

 

1.Looking for Rental Apartments

I’d highly recommend using the following sights to get started when finding an apartment.

-Apartments.com

-HotPads.com

Trulia  <—(My personal favorite)

-RenJungle

-PadMapper

When you go to visit an apartment pay attention to what you see, and be ready with some basic questions. Take nothing you see for granted, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Some examples could

-“Do the windows open?”

-“What is the policy on pets?”

-“Is there a second exit in case of a fire?”

 

2. Find Roommates

Unless you have a lot of money around or are working on top of school, living alone is not an option. Look into getting some roommates. I currently live with 4 people and we split the cost of $2500 per month between all of us. If you don’t have any friends to room with, reach out to clubs, classes, and roommates.com. I cannot recommend this enough, I met some of my current roommates through clubs and classes that have become my friends just because I asked them about their living plans next year. Biggest thing I want to emphasize is don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Ideally try to find someone that responsible, respectful, and most importantly clean. Or don’t! Just make sure when getting roommates you find people that fit in to your atmosphere nicely instead of bringing people in who just want to live for a cheaper cost.

 

3. Knowing the Neighborhood

Since we’re living in Chicago picking the right neighborhood for you can be difficult. Safety can be an issue so make sure you check out the neighborhood during the day and then again at night. Walk around and see what it’s like. What’s around the neighborhood? Shops, restaurants, markets, coffee shops, or other night life?

When finding my place, I made sure to avoid being in a “food desert” or a place where there are few to no markets, restaurants, or places of shopping. I personally recommend that you find apartments around the Greenville and Morse area since they are very close to Loyola’s Lake-shore Campus on the sideline stop. They are filled with markets, restaurants, shops, and much more!

Another thing to keep in mind about the neighborhood is how long does it take for you to get to classes. Are you someone who rushes at the last minute, or likes to take their time? These could be important factors to whether you want to take public transport from your chosen location or walk!

 

4. Reading the Lease

Here’s a big one. You need to carefully read the lease and I mean everything! If you ever run into a problem with your landlord you can always use the lease to your advantage if they are breaking any of their own guidelines. Furthermore in some cases leases could be invalidated by having illegal clauses.

The last thing you want to do is get fined or even evicted from your apartment because you failed to following a “no smoking clause”. Know the ground rules.

 

5. Utilities

Find out which utilities you are responsible for… (heat,electricity,phone,internet,hot water, etc…)

A big mistake some people make when getting into an apartment is that they don’t ask enough questions about the apartment and what utilities it comes with. This actually happened to me this year when picking my current apartment. Another place I was planning on moving into actually offered me and my roommates NO utilities. We immediately reconsidered and found the place we are living in now which offers us all traditional utilities excluding internet and phones though. Still, a very important thing you should definitely look into before committing to your very own place.

 

As I continue to learn as a proud rentee, I will be updating you with whatever knowledge I gather. I wish you best of luck in your journey and hopefully this helps you out.

Please remember to ASK QUESTIONS when finding your apartment!!!

Thanks!

Loyola Cosplay at C2e2

Loyola Cosplay at C2e2

Cosplay is not just the practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, video game, or series. It’s not a mere game of dress-up, it is something much more powerful. Cosplay is a form of strength and confidence many people use to express themselves.

Left: Dylan as Okuyasu Nijimura (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure). Instagram @sogeking00 Right: Parker Harris as Jotaro Kujo (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure). Instagram @busyearnin_

This Spring Break I had the opportunity to dive into cosplaying with a few Loyola students. They showed me the ropes and helped me create two whole cosplays throughout my journey. I’ve always been a fan of cosplayers and how they represent themselves. It is really fascinating to see your favorite characters come to life and how people portray them on the con floor.

Ellie Walters as Shoto Todoroki (My Hero Academia). Instagram: @noraa_cosplay

Beyond dressing up, the feeling of playing your own character really stands out. As I roamed the comic con floor, I felt like every other person. Aimless wondering around trying to find something to purchase or someone to take a picture with. After I put on my costumes, I felt like I was embodying the characters essence to some degree. I cosplayed two well-known anime protagonists Jotaro Kujo (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) and Shota Aizawa (My Hero Academia). Everywhere people got excited to see their favorite characters, I got to take hundreds of pictures and meet so many wonderful people. Even though it was my first time cosplaying and my cosplays weren’t exactly accurate, people still gave me compliments.

Julianna Scivinsky as Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto Shippuden). Instagram @naukajewel

I’d like to give a quick shoutout to a few local Loyola cosplayers who have heled me out tremendously with costume design and getting into the community. You can check out their respective cosplay accounts linked under their photos.

Cosplaying is a very positive experience overall that I would recommend to anyone interested in trying something new. There are a lot of ways to get involved in cosplay here at Loyola through various clubs such as the Nintendo, Anime/Manga, and eSports clubs. If you don’t want to join a club, I highly encourage you to reach out to people over social media on where to start! What I found most interesting in the cosplay community is that everyone is so accepting. No matter who you are, everyone helps each other out and makes sure they feel welcome to express their opinions and ideas. From an novice artist and cosplayer, this helps support creativity and promotes the most positive attitude. If you’re looking for a place to express yourself artistically or physically look no further and try cosplaying yourself.