Home Sweet Home: The Woods

In the 90’s, an infamous deal was signed that altered the fate of students for years to come. From then on, an agreement was made between Millikin and the lovely apartment complexes, The Woods. And what a deal it was… 

After their freshman year, all students (unless in otherwise very specific approved housing) have to live in The Woods. What a privilege it is! This time of year is everybody’s favorite, actually. It is much more fun navigating an obstacle course of snow and thick layers of ice on your way to class. Salting would totally remove that thrilling experience.

Although this time of year is in competition with the very end of the year; we all get to play our favorite game: what charges will The Woods make against me for things I cannot control within my apartment? Move out comes and we all deep clean, but it is never enough. Get every nook and cranny, but they will still find a speck of dirt on the very top of your cabinets to charge you for. But hey! That just means we get to move into squeaky clean apartments the next year. Right?

Sure, when I moved in there were loads of straw on the floor from the former room owner’s emotional support animal, but that can easily be missed. I’m sure they weren’t charged for cleaning. Except, they did charge the former tenant to vacuum and clean those floors.

Regardless, some things need to be paid for and replaced, of course. Like the blinds that were broken when I moved in, which I marked on my move in sheet as broken! The blinds I could never open myself, should obviously be paid for by me.

Costs are split so fairly too. Sure, there were four people living in my apartment, but I should have to pay for 1/3 of the cost of the broken couch— the one I didn’t break. All of these extra charges make complete sense to me.

Like the broken gate that we paid $45 to fix. As we are all adults here, it only makes sense for us all to be punished together like kindergarteners. At least, it got repaired super quickly. What’s a few months, you know?

Ultimately, students are lucky to live in such a well-organized apartment complex. How grateful we are that Millikin signed that deal so many years ago. The Woods will continue to be the most exceptional, top-notch facility. I just know years from now, when we are still locked in that contract, students are going to be jumping for joy because they get the honor of living at The Woods!