Neighbors are a fun part of living on your own because they’re almost like a present, you never know what to expect.

Here’s the reason I’m writing this story: When I moved into my very first apartment I had one of my neighbor’s kids throw a large stone through my window, bust out the remaining glass in my window with a bow and arrow and break into my apartment. Everything ended up being OK; no one was hurt, and I was taught a valuable lesson about neighbors that day.

I’m not the only one to experience wacky neighbor stories. Good or bad, new neighbors keep us on our toes with their constant unpredictability.

With constant unpredictability comes the hilarious and sometimes alarming instances. New neighbors provide students with lifelong memories. Here are some quirky neighbor stories that Iowa State students recalled.

“One day I was walking out of my apartment when I noticed my neighbor’s door open for some ‘quality outside cat time,’” said Lauren Vespa, a junior in journalism.

“They leave their door open all the time so their cat can roam freely, it’s so bizarre,” she said.

“A few days later they were asking me if I had seen a grey cat. I can’t say I was surprised.”

Austin Frasher, senior in computer science, seemed to have more relaxed neighbors.

“I was pulling into the parking lot of my apartment complex when I noticed a smallish group of people huddled around what looked like a small flame near the building I lived in,” Frasher said. “When I got out of my car I was greeted by my neighbor and eight of his friends smoking a large purple Hookah in the front lawn of our apartment complex he said.

“When I walked past to get inside, they acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. This wasn’t their last time, either.”

Danielle Gerst, senior in psychology, had an interesting roommate encounter also.

“My roommate and I are night owls,” she said. “We both get off work around 10 and don’t make dinner until like 11. “One night we were playing music on a speaker while I was showering and my roommate was making food, when she ran into the bathroom to show me a less than pleasant note our neighbor left under the door.

“Let’s just say they didn’t appreciate our music.”

Dakota Karthan, junior in marketing, seemed to have the opposite problem.

“I live with the people others consider the ‘weird neighbors’,” she said. “They always buy way too many bananas and never end up eating them all, so after they’re too brown to eat, my roommates throw them onto other people’s porches for fun. I just don’t get it.”

Jazz Niehaus, a junior in advertising, is a prime example of being that ‘weird neighbor.’

After coming home from a rough Saturday night, Niehaus could hear her neighbor yelling and pounding angrily through the wall “could you stop screaming so loud and throw up a little bit quieter? I have to wake up really early for softball!”