RockChalkLiving.com
PRESENTS
PAGE 4
COMMENTARY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Childhood friend brings comfort sense of home to college life
By Cassidy Ritter critter@kansan.com
My lips began to quiver as I watched the car pull away from Legends Place. My eyelids were moving a mile a minute trying to hold it all in. The morning dew rolling down the car matched the tears rolling down my face.
Saying goodbye to my family is still the hardest part.
When I came to KU from Colorado, I feared being lost without my family around. Luckily, I knew from the very first day I had a second family in Topeka for support--my roommate, Ashlee, and her family.
My mom, a Colorado native, decided to attend KU partly because of one Kansas connection she had: Tad Boyle, a basketball player, and his family. Like my mom, I came because of a connection. I knew Mona Spring, my mom's college roommate and her daughter.
Mona and my mom met during their junior year. They lived in the same apartment complex and were both majoring in occupational therapy. The two had many classes together and became instant friends. Little did they know their friendship would lead to a connection in
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the next generation between their daughters.
Ashlee and I have known each other since the lovely years of diapers, and trust me, we have plenty of embarrassing little kid pictures hanging in our apartment. Thirty years ago, our moms were roommates at KU, and now it is up to Ashlee and I to carry on the tradition and family connection.
Because Ashlee's hometown is only 30 minutes down the road, her family tends to visit from time to time. When I say family, I don't mean just her mom, dad and brother; I mean her aunts, uncles and cousins as well. The entire Spring family has welcomed mom and I with open arms.
Mona and my mom have always been life-long friends,but our family's connection to them has strengthened over the past two years.
On move-in day, I stood outside a little longer that morning, hoping the car would turn around. After my hope ran out, I returned inside. With uneven breaths and a wet face, I slowly fell sleep. A few hours later I made my way upstairs to find Mona with coffee in hand. She saw the trail of salty tears on my face and sensed the pain in my heart.
This isn't just a story of four Jayhawks. My story is about the connections made along the way both in the past and present, the ones that make adjusting to a new place easier. It's the connection that allows me and my mom to worry less, that makes sharing a home easier, the one that will continue to last a lifetime. It's about the connection of family--one that will continue for generations.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
TOP: Ashlee Spring, Mona Spring, Kris Ritter and Cassidy Ritter pose for a photo before the homecoming football game last year. Ritter's mom is still close with her college roommate.
BOTTOM: Cassidy Ritter, right, has known her roommate, Ashlee Spring, since childhood.
KEEP IT TOGETHER
Organizational ideas improve spaces
CASSIDY RITTER
critter@kansan.com
Chaos. Confusion. Clutter. As students are getting settled into their new apartments, many are struggling to stay organized. Below are the top five ways to organize a closet, desk, bathroom and kitchen.
CLOSET
2. Buy skinny hangers. The velvet hangers available at T.J. Maxx work best and tend to be the cheapest. These hangers help maximize closet space.
1. At the start of the year, turn your hangers backwards. At the end of the year, donate or sell the clothes that are still hanging backwards you didn't wear.
5. Use shower curtain hooks. These are often overlooked but are perfect for organizing purses, scarves and belts.
3. Hang things together by color. It comes in handy when searching for something to wear.
DESK
4. Use a three-bin storage system. These bin are ideal for T-shirts that do not need to be hung up, like workout and sleep shirts. Look for these bins at Walmart or Target.
2. Purchase a desk lamp with a base that holds pens. These come in a variety of colors and are available at Target for $13.49.
1. Hang up a calendar above your desk to increase desk space.
3. To keep class work organized use magazine holders. Have one for each class to store notebooks, textbooks, assignments and folders.
4 A drawer mini organizer can be used to store the small stuff like paper clips, pencil lead and sticky notes.
5. Keep extra supplies in a crate under your bed. If something is not being used, there is no need to keep it out.
BATHROOM
1. Use shelf liners to keep things from sliding around when drawers are opened and closed (available in manystyles at Dollar Tree).
2. Use PVC pipes. A three-inch PVC Degree Hub will do. This is a short PVC pipe that has half of a pipe coming out of the side at an angle. This is great for holding hair dryers, straighteners and curlers, and they are easy to spray paint. Check out internet.com for more PVC tricks.
3. Use magnetic strips. Place these on the inside of drawers to hold bobby pins, tweezers and makeup.
4. Place a shelf over the bathroom door. Put extra bathroom products on this shelf including towels and washcloths.
5. Use a cake stand or tiered plant stand to keep things off counter tops.
KITCHEN
1. Have a container for coupons and extra change to keep things off the counter. This can be as simple as a decorative bowl or a shoebox.
2. Labels are ideal. Place labels on plastic bins or drawers for similar-looking things, like sugar, flour and pancake mix.
3. Use an empty tissue box to store plastic shopping bags for later use as trash bags.
4. Magnet hooks come in handy for spices on the side of the fridge and utensils along the wall.
5. Use a wire shelf in the refrigerator to create shelving space. You can use one that is designed for a locker.
Edited by Emma LeGault