Everybody loves being in love, and college relationships tend to be hot and heavy, not to mention, fun! You’ve always got a buddy to eat with, Netflix-and-chill with, party uptown with…. and hopefully study with.

College is busy. Classes, studying, theses, friends – there’s a lot going on. Even more so if you have a part-time job on top of all that. Now, if you worked during high school, you’ve got a leg up on managing school and work. But even so, you’ve never done it like this before.

Whether you’re an international student, you’re taking classes over break, or you’ve just outgrown going home during the Holidays, it’s easy to stay in your apartment and get cabin fever during Southeast Ohio winters.

There’s not a lot worse than signing a lease on a new student rental only to find out later that you really should have read your lease better.

Whether you’re moving into an uptown house or apartment, making sure you’ve got the essential tools that will make your off-campus rental a home is key to having a great experience living in Athens. Some things seem obvious, but others may not.

If you’ve never been to the Athens Farmers Market, which runs from 9am to noon on Saturdays at the Market on State, you’re missing out.

When we were little, prepping for the first day of school was easy. All our friends needed the same things we did; teachers gave us lists, and our parents dragged us around Target gathering all the things we needed. Not at OU!

We don’t know anyone who hasn’t loved living in Athens during their time at OU. In fact, many of Athens’ permanent residents are alumni who either never left, or who ended up coming back, because there’s nowhere like it…especially in Ohio.

Even in the coolest of Athens student living, rental apartments and houses are still mostly in neutral colors with neutral flooring.

For those of us who choose to live with friends or family during our time at Ohio University, when you go to look for the best places to rent in Athens, the big question arises: How many bedrooms should our rental have?