In the past two years of college, I have experienced my
share of roommate situations. No matter
if you’re living with your best friend or someone that you just met, rooming
with someone can be an interesting experience. From having
different schedules to dealing with loud music, it can be stressful and
draining at times. However, if you put in some effort, living with someone else can be fun!
Keep all of your belongings separate.
I know this seems harsh, but I think drawing distinct boundaries
between belongings keeps out all questioning.
For both of the rooms that I lived in, I made sure to put all of my stuff on
one side of the room, bathroom, and kitchen.
It makes everything easier, because I know that I’m never using my
roommates silverware and she’s not using mine. I’ve learned that some people want to keep their stuff to themselves and it’s always best to try to avoid even the minor
disagreements.
Respect time schedules.
With my major, it's a known fact that I will always have 8 am classes. I also have a work study job that requires me to wake up early most days. Having to wake up early
all the time is exhausting, so I often find myself going to sleep relatively
early. My current roommate, on the other
hand, schedules her classes later in the day, which allows her to stay up later at
night. This can make things complicated, but we have been able to make it work. Sleep is very important in college, and you
don't want to ever bother my roommate. I make sure that every night before I go
to sleep, I set out all of my clothes for the next day and make sure I get ready in our bathroom.
That way, I make sure I’m out of the way and as quiet as possible. Even at night when I fall asleep around
11:00, my roommate tries to not be disruptive to me. Both of us working together keeps our room running smoothly and we are both able to get our beauty sleep.
Find your “own” place to go.
No matter how smooth things are running in your room, there
are going to be times when things just feel tense. Whether its your roommate eating food loudly,
singing songs, or watching TV while you are trying to study, its sometimes best to just leave the room for awhile.
Personally, my favorite place to hide out is the library, because its
extremely quiet and I am able to focus on my studying. If the library isn’t your thing, try to find
a nice coffee shop or restaurant on campus that can be your place of solitude. Wherever you choose, its nice to have a place where you can get
away from your cramped dorm room and have some “me time”.
Confront problems (if needed)
Confronting others is just not my thing. I just can’t do it. However, if there are issues in your room,
things are much better if you just face the awkwardness and talk about whatever is
wrong. I’ve had to do this a few times
and expected that it would blow up into a huge argument, but it didn’t. We were able to work out our issues. I think if you ignore a problem and let it
build up inside of you, it can turn into a much bigger problem than it should be. You have to live with this person for a year,
so you want to pick your battles and avoid all possible arguments.
Make your roommate your friend.
A roommate doesn’t have to just be someone that you live with. My
freshman year roommate and I ran in two different friendship circles, so we
unfortunately never hung out unless we were in our room. As I look back, I think that if we went out to dinner or explored the city a few times, we would have become good friends. Sometimes people write off their roommate as
a potential friend, because they just associate them as a person they live
with. I truly believe that if you make an effort with your roommate, you could end up learning a lot
about them and create a great friendship.
