So......College......

Submitted by SystemReject on Fri, 03/09/2007 - 12:39am.

SystemReject

Posts: 62
Joined: 2006-12-31

So the other day my mom was trying to get me to go visit this college to "see what it's like". An argument ensued because I didn't want to waste my time looking at a college that I didn't even want to go to. The result....we didn't go and my mom is starting to accept the fact that I don't want to go to college. I guess I should be happy now that my mom isn't putting so much stress on me about it anymore, but now that it's kinda unofficially been decided, I'm kinda nervous. I don't even know what I'm nervous about though.

Anyways, now my mom is looking up all these "alternatives" to college, such as Americorps. Now don't get me wrong, I respect what Americorps does with helping people and stuff, but that's just not what I wanna do. I wanna be free to go where I want, and do what I want, and if I help people, I want it to be because I decided to, not because my mom forced me to join some association.

So the summer after our senior year, my friend and I are planning to go to Japan for a couple weeks. I'm thinking of just staying there and making a whole new life, whether it be squatting, or buying a small house and making a living. Or I could go up North to Boston, New York, or maybe even Canada and be a squatter up there. I'm not sure what to do....advice?

Oh, and by the way Sarah, I got that book you suggested, thanks. It pretty much backed up everything I was thinking about school, and then some. I only wish I'd found it a couple years earlier so I could've avoided wasting 4 years of my life.

Fri, 03/09/2007 - 12:56am

mynweb

Posts: 490
Joined: 2006-10-31

wide open

i think you felt/feel nervous cause you realized that your future is actually in yr hands now that theres less external pressure, so things are wide open and it's kinda daunting. I know the feeling.

Like i said before, i think the best thing to do is just explore the things you are compelled towards, and see where it goes. I think that trying to live independently and sustain yourself is a good idea. Japan sounds like a cool place, i have no idea what it would be like to live their.

I do know what it's like living here in NY, since i've been here all my life. I squatted in the bronx in a 5 storey building with like 20-30 people. It was pretty exciting and shit, though it ended in eviction and arson. I painted a mural there and tried to start an after school program for the neighborhood kids.

Do you know that brendan (xcriteria) moved here from montana over a year ago cause he met us through the website? i think you'd like it here, there's a lot of stuff to do.

take advantage of the time you have still in school/living w/parents to think about all yr options. I think you have a lot.

-s

Sat, 03/31/2007 - 4:30am

AnarchistAlice

Posts: 26
Joined: 2007-03-28

I wish

I could make it to NY to squat. I've wanted to squat for so long but the closest I've come is couch-surfing between cities here in NC. I guess I've squatted overnight some places but never anywhere I could stay. If I ever make it up to NY, are there places I could stay that are at all established among the sub/counter-culture?

H=F

Sat, 03/31/2007 - 9:42am

mynweb

Posts: 490
Joined: 2006-10-31

Unfortunately...

New York is one of the most gentrified places in the world. There are a bunch of squats that got legalized (you might've heard of c-squat and abc no rio, for instance), but they're not really so much squats as co-ops and community centers now. They all have waiting lists and some kind of rent system to maintain/fix the building.

Every now and then there's a new place, but they're often overrun with junkies. The place we used to live at was amazing, but it's gone. Now we rent. I don't know, I've heard Philadelphia is good for that stuff, and it's pretty close to us... or maybe something will open up here.

Sat, 03/31/2007 - 9:39pm

AnarchistAlice

Posts: 26
Joined: 2007-03-28

D: well...

If anyone needs a place to stay in NC near the Raleigh area, my house is opening next year as a squat. My mom's leaving it to me (its completely paid for and i only have to deal with electric bills) and she said I could do whatever with it as long as I was willing to stay there.

H=F

Sat, 03/31/2007 - 10:26pm

xcriteria

Posts: 92
Joined: 2006-12-04

cool

Wow, that's cool! Not often people get handed a house. Smiling

A legal squat will make things a lot easier than having to deal with threatened eviction, etc.

BTW, welcome to the site. Smiling

Sun, 04/01/2007 - 12:03am

kid_prototype

Posts: 126
Joined: 2006-12-17

sooper house!

wow a whole house huh? Thats pretty huge. Is there land also? one thing i gotta say is i think it's misleading to call yr moms house that you inherited a squat, cause a squat is an abandoned building that has been occupied to provide housing or other needs. I dont say this to be a vocabulary nazi, but because poeple might get the wrong attitude about the space and treat it like a dump. i've seen people just treat a place like shit because,"what the hell, it's just a squat". Really it seems more like your trying to start a communal household with shared responsibilities. That part has to be made clear, or people will walk all over you.

That being said, I'm very dedicated to the idea and practice of non mainstream people like us creating homes and community spaces where we can live and grow. We've put a ton of energy into fixing up the apartment we're renting and now i've been focusing full time into creating a vegetable garden and the back yard.

so i'm excited to hear about what you wanna do with the house!

-sarah

Tue, 04/03/2007 - 3:45pm

AnarchistAlice

Posts: 26
Joined: 2007-03-28

Not exactly a squat then

The house is pretty small, its only got two bedrooms and an unfinished attic (we're going to try to finish it) and the livingroom, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. It's one and a half stories and it really isnt all that much to look at. I'm thinking that as long as people can live there, they're welcome to it.
There is land, about an acre. Right now my mom is putting a little sidewalk down in front of the porch so people can't park in the driveway in front of the house so the grass will grow back. I'm going to start working the land on the side of the house for a garden and on the other side there's a little tree house. The front yard is huge, and I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing with it. My mom says I should probably try to get a goat or something so mowing the lawn won't be such a chore. I'm not sure what all I'm going to be doing, but I know I want the peoeple in the house to be pretty self-sustaining.

I guess it's not technically a squat, but yeah, that's all semantics.

Thanks guys.

H=F

Tue, 04/03/2007 - 8:30pm

nick

Posts: 13
Joined: 2007-01-28

an acre? damn!

you are so lucky! everything we do in our house we have to go through our landlord for. An acre of land to do what ever you want with is amazing! I'd build some crazy network of tree houses or something (one is not enough!). Like Gilligan's Island. one day we'll go visit you down there. Check out http://www.rhizomecollective.org/ for cool ideas about sustainable stuff.

Thu, 04/05/2007 - 1:18am

xcriteria

Posts: 92
Joined: 2006-12-04

nice

Can you still travel if you want? Or do you have to be there all the time?

Tue, 04/03/2007 - 9:09pm

SystemReject

Posts: 62
Joined: 2006-12-31

That sounds really cool.

That sounds really cool. Who knows, maybe I'll end up going up there and being one of your tennants when I get out of here. I'm pretty good at mowing the lawn, maybe i could do it when needed haha.

Tue, 04/03/2007 - 9:14pm

nick

Posts: 13
Joined: 2007-01-28

the misled youth network - uniting kids all over

MISLED YOUTH WORKS! HOORAY!

Tue, 04/03/2007 - 11:14pm

kid_prototype

Posts: 126
Joined: 2006-12-17

punk rock paradise

i didnt know how much an acre was till i looked it up online. you can do anything! i've always wanted a treehouse, or a whole treehouse city like what nick was saying. you should post pics on the site! maybe we'll visit someday. maybe misled youth can have a north carolina chapter.

--sarah

Mon, 04/09/2007 - 1:33pm

AnarchistAlice

Posts: 26
Joined: 2007-03-28

I have until the house is

I have until the house is mine to travel, but yeah, i have a ton of space to work with. I wish the house was a bit bigger though, but I can work with it. I'm going to attempt to put up pictures.

that's a barn on the left (like stage left) of the house. It's got a bunch of old pepsi bottles and bikes in it. Could be useful? Smiling

This is an old well and the Bird Girl statue my mom put up (midnight in the garden of good and evil anyone?) i like it, I think it might be staying after she moves out.

the right side of the house; my little brother tagged the circle A, i know how silly it seems but its still sort of cool.

from part of the way down the driveway. that big tree on the right holds so much potential, i just have to figure out what to do with it.

well, that's all i really have for now.

H=F

Mon, 04/09/2007 - 11:37pm

kid_prototype

Posts: 126
Joined: 2006-12-17

cool pics

i guess you have more land than house...maybe you could have big outdoor shows in the summertime. The barn could be some kind of work space like for bikes or art projects or something. And of course you can grow tons of stuff. In the future you might be able to build more structures on the land if necessary...keep us in the loop!

--sarah

Tue, 04/10/2007 - 6:16pm

AnarchistAlice

Posts: 26
Joined: 2007-03-28

sure thing!

today i moved the dog pen to the back yard since we dont use it (we're going to take it down and use the parts for other things if we can) and also my mom's been working on a sidewalk for the front of the house. we're planting roses on the side of the porch and putting up wrought iron fence things for the roses to climb. We also cleaned out a good deal of the inside of the house (we had to rent a truck to carry away everything!) my mom burnt down the lawn mower by accident so that had to go too. other than that, we havent done much with the house since those pix were taken.

H=F