The document provides information and advice about housing options for Pepperdine students. It includes perspectives from students who have lived both on and off campus. A senior student reflects that living on campus has been less stressful than living off campus due to issues like parking, maintenance problems, and potential roommate conflicts. Meanwhile, a junior who lives in a one-bedroom apartment off PCH enjoys the solitude. However, another student notes that the housing office that manages on-campus housing is important and works hard to support students, despite some shortcomings. The article encourages students to carefully consider their own needs and personality traits when choosing housing.

1. GUIDEHOUSIN
Stay on
campus
Live alone
on PCH
Become
an RA
Shack up
off-campus
Ready to cut the
Pepp umbilical cord?
yes
no
not sure
Have a car?
Enjoy Caf food?
can’t get enough
hate them
What about
candles?
Alone time?
yes, please
yes
need them
no
Split or foot the bill?
no
foot
split
Have reliable friends?
yes unsure
no thanks
don’t care
Like discounts?
don’t believe in it
yes
Where Do
You Belong?
yes
pg. 3
pg. 5 pg. 7
pg. 11
START
Spring 2014
PEPPERDINE GRAPHIC MEDIA

2. What’s the
Housing
Guide?
This 24-page magazine is your
one-stop shop to all your housing
needs, on and off campus. From
Realtors to student perspectives,
PGM’s housing and student
living publication looks to serve
the community by enlightening
students and giving them a
comprehensive guide to every-
thing they need to know about
housing options.
Entirely student-produced, the
Housing Guide hopes that
students feel more prepared
when it comes to the housing
world and will help them make
the right choices to suit their
needs.
Staff ListEditor
Mariella Rudi
Advertising Director
Ashley Rhame
Creative Directors
Xander Hayes
Clay Gustafson
Contributors
Elliott Bassile
Monique Batac
Danielle DiMeglio
Katrina Kirsch
Chelsea Gest
Garrison Wright
Copy Chief
Lauren Davila
President of PGM
Andrew Kasselmann
Executive Editor
Mariella Rudi
Advisers
Elizabeth Smith
Courtenay Stallings

3. Table of Contents
3 A Senior Reflects
5 Photo story: PCH Bachelor Pad
7 A House Divided
11 An Off-Campus Testimony
15 The Seven Types of Roomates
You Will Meet

4. We’re all familiar with the sudden
surge of panic right around junior year.
Your friends are frantically calling dibs on
one another for that beautiful off-campus
apartment where you can actually indulge
in the glory ages of your twenties. Sure, that
all sounds wonderful. But as a senior who
has lived on campus all three years (I trans-
ferred as a sophomore), I honestly feel it’s
one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I
have no regrets … unlike some of my fellow
off-campus friends.
Those of us living on campus often take
advantage of the smaller things, which
would otherwise be a daily problem as an
off-campus commuter. On my brisk walk to
class, I often hear the sounds of cars honk-
ing, brakes slamming and the occasional
fender-bender. Let’s not forget the profan-
ities mumbled under students’ breaths as
they walk in late to their 10 a.m. classes.
Parking is a problem. I can’t even begin
to count the number of grievances from
my off-campus friends driving from the
Stinkies or Villa Malibu, which are both
fewer than 10 minutes away from campus.
I always hear the “Oh, but we live so close”
argument. Don’t forget to calculate the
additional 20 minutes fighting over a spot.
It’s hard enough getting to class on time
without the whole parking issue.
But what about the bigger scale prob-
lems? Have you ever stopped to think
about dealing with plumbing or electrical
issues off campus? I’m all for becoming
Miss Independent and stepping into the
real world, but dealing with a broken toilet
and a midterm the next day does not sound
appealing. When on-campus students have
a pluming issue or the garbage disposal
doesn’t work, we can just call a number at
any time and someone is here to fix it either
the same day or next.This luxury is not the
same for those living off campus. Often,
students will have to approve any mainte-
nance with the apartment owner and the
student will end up becoming the mediator
between the two. It’s a process, people. No
thanks.
Then, of course, there’s the standard
“what if my roommate and I get in a
fight” issue. As much as we’re convinced
we’ll love our roommate forever and ever,
sometimes friendships don’t work out the
way we planned.There is absolutely no
worse situation than sharing an off-campus
apartment with someone who hates you
and wants to move out. If you’re living in
Drescher, you can at least go straight to
your own room and go about your life. But
if you’re off campus and your roommate
decides to move out, you are suddenly stuck
with a significantly higher bill at the end
of each month. Mom and Dad won’t be
too happy.There goes your whole “but it’s
cheaper than living on campus” argument.
This scenario may seem rare, but it hap-
pens to the best of us. I’ve heard several
stories where friendships are great, but then
someone is late on a payment or can’t make
the payment at all. It’s never a comfortable
conversation to have and could ruin the
friendship.
I’ll have plenty of time to deal with real
world problems after graduation when I
purchase my own apartment and eventually
a house. But as for my collegiate experience,
I’m glad I could make it a little less stressful
by living on campus!
By: Danielle DiMeglio
YEARS ON CAMPUS: 3
A
Senior
3

6. YEARS OFF CAMPUS: 2
PHOTO STORY:
PCH BACHELOR PAD
5
Junior Elliott Bassile rents
a one-bedroom apartment on
PCH during the semester and
goes home during the summer.
Preferring the solace of living
alone, Bassile says he spends
his downtime meditating and
stand-up paddle boarding with-
out any distractions.

7. Alexander Hayes / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
6

8. I’ve never had a sibling. Not one. How-
ever, if I were blessed by pestering, younger
offspring of my parents, I imagine our re-
lationship to be like any other I have ob-
served: I’d get to make fun of them as much
as I please, but as soon as anyone else did,
it would get ugly. Oddly enough, I feel the
same way about Housing and Residence
Life (HRL). Sure, I can complain all day
about unorganized event approval processes
or not being able to bring residents to the
treehouse anymore, but as soon as anyone
else chimes in too, I become the overprotec-
tive older sibling that I know I could have
been.
HRL is the organization on campus we
all love to hate. We all remember the Dre-
scher Toilet Paper Shortage Debacle of 2013
(or some variation on the topic), and we all
sigh, roll our eyes and say “Claaaassic HRL.”
Everyone knows of the RA with the hidden
pet, and everyone knows the undesirable
roommates whose gospel music reverberates
far into the wee hours of the morning. We
can all agree that living among 2,000 other
undergrad students on campus isn’t always
rainbows and butterflies. It is easy to blame
Housing for all of our “we don’t pay $50,000
a year for this” problems because, to many, it
remains the nameless institution that man-
ifests itself in “community standards” and
lockout fines.
During these past two years as an SLA
and an RA, I have had the honor to know
the faces behind the name Housing and
Residence Life and it is difficult to explain
just how fortunate we are to have these peo-
ple lead our student community on campus.
I have watched Brandon Farmer,the new di-
rector of HRL, spend countless hours trying
to better understand the wants and needs
of Pepperdine and its students. Through my
interactions with him, it is evident that he
fights for what we want and he is selfless in
his pursuit of a better on-campus housing
experience. Every Friday, Karl Kalinkewicz,
a resident director and a personal hero of
mine, heeds his promise to provide “Krispies
with Karl” to the freshmen on Lower Dorm
Row. He is committed to forming relation-
ships with the freshmen to better under-
stand their needs and the culture they have
formed within the houses. Events like “Res
Road Regatta” and other epic traditions he
created have helped cultivate the sense of
community that we all seek in our on-cam-
pus experience. In my own life, I would need
an entire newspaper to describe how much
Christine Yi Suh, assistant director of Spir-
itual Formation and Care (awesome title,
equally awesome woman), and other HRL
staff have affected my time at Pepperdine
and my spiritual walk. Serving alongside
these incredible mentors has been a tremen-
dous and humbling experience, and I owe a
piece of who I am today to the guidance and
leadership I have witnessed working within
HRL.
Next time you find yourself affected by
follies of the seemingly faceless institution
of Housing and Residence Life, remember
the people behind the operation. HRL is
far from perfect, and so are the people who
run it, but their intentions to create the best
on-campus community possible are undeni-
able. Housing is still that annoying, pester-
ing little brother, but at the end of the day,
it is still family.
YEARS ON CAMPUS: 4
A
HOUSE
DIVIDED
7

12. So you’ve survived the freshmen dorms,
Lovernich, George Page or Drescher for the
past year or two (maybe even three),but now
you’re beginning to wonder if the Pepper-
dine bubble is one you want to be able to es-
cape from time to time. If this sounds famil-
iar, you may be ready to take a step into the
real world and live off-campus. While the
thought of apartment hunting and a show-
er for you (and only you) may be enough to
convince you to ignore the latest HRL email,
make sure to do some research on all options
before making a serious commitment. This
includes asking questions, interrogating and
sometimes pestering those with experience
of living off-campus, because like me, they
will undoubtedly spare you the riveting de-
tails.
I have lived in a freshman dorm, a
mock-hotel in the Lausanne program and
now as a junior, an off-campus condomini-
um. Although I have learned valuable les-
sons from living in each of these places, the
best advice when choosing where and with
whom to live is this: consider yourself.
Think of the environment you like to live
in, how you best study, your budget and your
personality. Living with others, especially
friends, takes compromise. Yet when you get
to finally choose your own housing, choose
what is most fitting for your needs. Person-
ally, I prefer having a kitchen to cook in and
roommates who I know are fun, yet respon-
sible. Find what you like, what bothers you
and what you could care less about. If you
don’t want to commute to campus every day,
living on-campus may be the best option for
you, even if it’s not for your potential room-
mate.While it’s difficult to tell a good friend
living together may not be the best option, if
you truly feel that way, it will preserve your
friendship in the long run.
If you decide that off-campus housing
suits you best, I recommend considering the
advice on the next page. I have experience
with all of these situations, and trust me,
there’s a story behind every one.
Start looking into your options as soon as
possible. Happy hunting!
YEARS ON CAMPUS: 2
An
OFF-
CAMPUS
TESTIMONY
11

13. 1
2
3
4
5
-
12

14. 85 1

16. 5
5295
pepperdine-graphic.com

18. “My parents, Ken Bar-
bie, told me to always
use ‘summer’ as a verb”.
“I hope I can phenotype
THE SCIENCE
MAJOR
SevenTypes of
THE
ALL-AMERICAN
THE VAMPIRE
z’s in class”.
The
15

19. “You going to the day-
ger pong tournament at
the Seagul’s Nest?”
“Coming to UM
tonight?!”
“Hiking to the Cross in ha-
rem pants is surprisingly
and spiritually refreshing”.
Roommatesyou will meet
THE HERMIT
THE PARTYER
THE MISSIONARY THE
PSUEDO-HIPPIE
16
Garrison Wright / STAFF ARTIST

20. Jointhe
legacy
Join us at the Pepperdine Graphic Media
recruitment meeting
on April 2, 2014
at 7 p.m.
in CCB 140
Interested in applying? Look out for applications April 1 or contact
graphic@pepperdine.edu or elizabeth.smith@pepperdine.edu
for more information!
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m a g a z i n e
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