You're off to college and though you're excited for finally heading out into the great, wide world, you're nervous about one thing: your roommate(s). Living away from home for the first time can be rough. What's more, you'll be sharing a space with someone you might never have met before, and someone you might already have reservations about. Here are some of my tips, gathered through personal experience, to help you survive life in the dorms with your brand new roommate.
1. Communication is paramount
Your roommate will never ever, ever, ever know that their bass practice at 2 a.m. is an issue with you unless you tell them. Surprisingly, he/she cannot read your mind. Many of your potential or current roommates have never lived with another person in the same room. Living factors, such as cleanliness, bedtime or overnight guests are varied for different people. You might have a roommate that is against something that you’re passionate about. You roommate tip, and even life tip, is that communication is the absolute most important tool for living with another person.
So its move-in day and you’re hyped up on adrenaline because you’re about to start your first day of college. It’s a high-stress and high-excitement day full of new faces and new things.
Address a problem on day one
Whether this comes in something that your RA provides or something you do on your own, setting expectations early is the best way to avoid knock-down-drag-outs during midterms week when your roommate has their third “kegger” of the semester.
If I think about moving in with my first roommate, the first thing we decided when it came to our room rules was what we would do if we had an overnight guest.
Socks on the door are so old school, but hey, it worked.
Be OK with not being BFFs
If you’re friends with your roommate, that’s awesome.
If you’re not, that’s OK too.
College is a time when you’re going to meet a lot of people, some you click with, and some that are temporary: your roommate might very well be one of those. An expectation of a roommate isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, that he/she is your best friend.
Look out for each other
You might not have any clue what's going on in your roommates life. While your job isn't to be your roommate's parent, maid or friend, you will see him/her more than most people. If they're acting strange, ask them about it. If they aren't going to class, talk to them about what's up. College
Learn to let things go
You roommate will, and I repeat will,get on your nerves. You will have times where you won't like your roommate. It's hard to live with other people, you should know, you lived with your parents for 18 years. With everything else you'll have to worry about in college, the fact that your roommate didn't wash their dishes right away is not something to stress about.
Remember living together is temporary
This is not a lifelong commitment: this is a semester at most. While living with someone is an important step, it isn't the only thing going on in your life. As long as life is bearable, you should be able to get your work done to graduate.
