This fall brought a slew of new housemates. I now live next to a 6-foot-5-inch disc jockey and share a bathroom with two boys who are, surprisingly, cleaner than I am. Since everything in the house and in the co-op system is decided democratically, we voted to rename the house Althing Co-op. Althing is the name of Iceland’s parliament, which is the oldest assembly in Europe. It was created in 930 when the Vikings first arrived and settled on the island, so it quite literally was the Vikings’ “new community.” We all think the name is quite clever, and the Viking-themed party and Viking wall mural are both happening soon.

The beautiful thing about living in a 14-person house is the 14 different personalities that exist. In the end we’re able to keep a large house running on a budget without a landlord and somehow we manage to get along great while doing it.

Running a house without a landlord means we have to come together and share our skills and resources in a way many people don’t until they own their own home. Sometimes that can be hard, such as when we have to make sure our houses are up to code before city and fire inspections ourselves. My house didn’t pass inspections the first time this year because, among other things, we’re missing a window and the inspector found a bottle of lighter fluid on our roof. Often, however, the resource sharing makes living easier. Someone else does my dishes four nights a week, one person buys toilet paper for the house so we never run out and another person keeps our yard raked and our steps salted in the winter.

Of course, the co-ops are known around East Lansing for two things — hippies and parties. While the 500-person parties DJed by kids with dreadlocks, free kegs and subsequent bad decisions are great, the real power of the co-ops runs a little deeper. The Student Housing Cooperative, or SHC, really lives up to claim of being “for people, not profit” — regardless of who those people are. As an organization the SHC always strive to keep rent cheap and helps people out with payment plans if they can’t quite make rent by the first of teh month.

I’m as guilty as the next person for believing co-opers would share many of the same ideas, beliefs and hobbies I have, but like everyone else, I was wrong. Sure, there are plenty of people who I can talk social justice and organic food with in between drum circle sessions, but they aren’t the norm by any means.

I’ve gone camping with, yelled at, borrowed clothes from, thrown rotten apples at, gone to court with, cooked for, argued with, dated, worried about, been called names by, studied with, scrubbed moldy pans with, annoyed, booty danced with, moved mattresses in torrential rains with, played ping-pong with, been hit on by, taken shots with, built a bike with, gotten a job for and cried with different people in my house and other co-ops.

Just like out there in the real world, I’ve known plenty of less-than-honorable co-op kids, people I wouldn’t trust my cat with. But far more importantly, I’ve met and gotten to know a few people who I would trust my life with, and I really can’t ask for anything more.

Liz Kersjes is the State News opinion writer. She can be reached at kersjese@msu.edu.