I am a mere college student given the chance to live off campus. With a monthly rent check, I’m able to live in a house with two other girls. Although we rent this house, we rarely see our landlord. We signed a lease and gave him our word that this house would stay standing when our two years were up. So far, it’s stayed intact. But after a year and a half, we’ve had our share fair of memories built-up in this house – some good, some bad. After all this time, I can honestly saying being a homeowner isn’t a walk in the park.

Coming into this house in 2011, we walked into a mess. Our landlord never cleaned the house nor did the residents before us. There was cat hair everywhere, including the fridge where we found uneaten salad thrown about. The rooms were filthy. There had to have been an inch of dust on top on the fan and my father was furious when he saw no smoke detectors throughout the house. It took one week and one nasty e-mail to get our landlord to fix up the house.

As time went on, we took the responsibility of taking care of the house like it was our own. We cut the grass, took out the trash, cleaned it spotless and respected our neighbors. We enjoyed the house, on and off, for a good year before the drama started back up. Last semester we encountered a nightmare at the ankles. I was the first to point it out as I noticed little red bumps all over my feet, itchy and multiplying within days. It wasn’t until my roommates began to notice them too when we called Orkin and found out we had a bad flea infestation.

This made no sense to me, I thought. How can you have fleas without any animals living in the house? The exterminator asked me over the phone about any animals living here before us as I immediately thought about that cat. He explained how fleas could hibernate, lay eggs, and come back whenever they please. This was my nightmare, taking on the responsibility of a home and now this. We all agreed to call the landlord because we weren’t paying the $300 to get the house sprayed. Honestly, this was my breaking point. How can you allow a set of girls to live in your home without first cleaning it, fixing everything, and making sure they are safe? It didn’t take much, just one phone call for him to say he would pay for it. So we gave the exterminator his address to send the bill and our address to send the help.

Luckily, a few weeks after Orkin came, there was no sign of any fleas left in the house. Walking back into the home, you could feel the peace again – as if someone just rid a demon from every room. It was easy to sleep and not scratch the few remaining bumps. We were happy knowing we took on this problem along with everything else in this house and still survived. Who knew signing a lease and living in a house could be the biggest deal of your life?