I'm scared of moving.

[squirtle]

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Ohhh, that's a cool idea. I've never heard of those. I think I might also get one of those door ones that you set when you go to bed, since I'll be living alone. I am living on the third floor also.

I like the door idea as well. If I lived alone, I would probably go with it

I wonder how loud the personal alarms are

They might be loud enough that neighbors around you would hear it going off if it was activated inside your apartment.
When I did have my own apartment, I made sure to get the phone numbers of my neighbors next to me. It made me feel safer knowing I could call them in the middle of the night if someone was outside my window or something strange like that. They would be able to get there before the police would (I am not saying eliminate the call to the police). I think it was more for my peace of mind. I never had to call them.
I think you are going to be just fine.... My ideas come from being terrified of staying home alone at night. When I lived alone, I had to come up with ways to put my mind at ease or I couldn't get a wink of sleep.

And as far as looks, you don't have to look mean. Just unavailable... Does that make sense? Don't be willing to engage in conversation with a stranger, etc. No eye contact makes you seem less friendly.

 

[zissou'smom]

I live right above the building manager, so hopefully I could call him and the police... I don't foresee that being a problem though. The only thing I'm worried about is if someone does break in and Zissou gets out, I hope she'd be scared and hide but I'm not sure. And I doubt a thief would bring the cat back in

.

Those personal alarms are loud enough, but you'd have to already be awake. I'm thinking more about the ones that go off if someone opens the door while you're sleeping, so long as I told the landlord I had it in case something happened and they had to come in. I also think I might get doubles of all the cat stuff and put a litterbox, food/water, etc in my bedroom and sleep with her in there with me and the room door also locked. Is that too paranoid?

Most of my neighbors are going to be graduate law students, hopefully some of them are big strong boys who like to watch out for girls. Not that I have to have a man looking after me, just that, well, wouldn't you feel better with two people who look like pro wrestlers living on either side of you?

 

[lunasmom]

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

Not that I have to have a man looking after me, just that, well, wouldn't you feel better with two people who look like pro wrestlers living on either side of you?

So know what you mean by that!

As for the witchy look, I always try to think of something that ticked me off that day...or if nothing did or I don't want to exhaust myself I just spot people I'm walking by and think "I hate you". as long as the witchiness is set in your eyes, then you'll be fine...you won't hve the Zoolander face!

I would still brush up on the self defense...usually they offer it for free or $5 on campus. You may get a clue in to the areas to avoid or be cautious of through that class.

 

[luckygirl]

If you don't mind me asking, what area are you moving to? Just curious...

 

[zissou'smom]

I'm moving to Ohio State. If you're familiar with Columbus I'll be living somwhere between campus and Short North. I know alot of people who otherwise would have gone there but didn't because they didn't like the neighborhood. To such a suburbanite as me, though, anywhere inside the city limits of any city is pretty scary. I went to look for an apartment and ended up sitting outside the campus bookstore crying because I was so freaked out by everything, but after talking to my landlord for a while I felt better, as she lived there for 20 years herself, adn it'sjust her and her husband own this building and no others, and she seemed like she was very involved and concerned about everything. The laundry room even requires a key, and it's all very well lit and pretty with a courtyard in the middle. I'll be smack in the middle, not on the ends, and also on the top floor too. So I think with reasonable precautions I will feel pretty safe at home. It's just basically everywhere else!
Maybe I'll feel better once I'm there and get a little used to all the different sorts of people and everything, and start to learn my way around, since being both lost and scared at the same time may have made me think it's worse than it is... but it's certainly nothing like where I go now, where most of your worries come from what the other students might do, and stupid drunken vandalism and such. Not armed robbery or assault or anything...

 

[annabelle33]

I've been thinking about up and moving too! Do you have a job lined up?? I've never been out of my town before and have always wanted to... There are 3 cities I have always considered but now have settled on one, and it's only about 3 hours away from me, so it won't be like I'm across the country. I'm sort of nervous, have had my res on monster and stuff for that area for a couple months with no luck.. I need to update it though. I know I will chicken out, even though it may be the best thing for me.. That's so exciting for you!

 

[zissou'smom]

I'll be going to school full-time (11:30-5:30 monday-thursday) so a job is more of a secondary concern. I will start looking once I get there, though, hopefully at the library! I am actually moving closer to home (I grew up closer to Columbus than I live now) so it's not that, but I don't know anybody in Columbus. And I love Northern Ohio much more than Southern Ohio. Soooo much more.

From what everyone's telling me, moving is exciting and good for you so you should do it!

 

[lunasmom]

Originally Posted by Zissou'sMom

I'm moving to Ohio State. If you're familiar with Columbus I'll be living somwhere between campus and Short North. I know alot of people who otherwise would have gone there but didn't because they didn't like the neighborhood. To such a suburbanite as me, though, anywhere inside the city limits of any city is pretty scary.

Honey - if people didn't go to certain colleges because of the neighborhoods, well then places like Ohio State, John Hopkins, etc wouldn't be as big as they are now.

(My friend transferred from Wayne State in Detroit to John Hopkins and basically said that once you take one step off of JHU's campus, it makes Detroit look like a picnic. NOW THATS scary).

Anyhoo, just look at it as a growing experience. After this you'll feel comfortable if you have to move to a big city!