Some of us, probably most of us, have been there before. We meet our roommates on move-in day and think it’s going to be the best year of our lives and we are all going to be best friends. Nope, most of the time that doesn’t happen.
Random roommates are probably the most terrifying thing a freshman has to go through. You are going to a new school; in my case 1,200 miles away from home, and you get some roommate who sucks her thumb and eats baby food (yeah, that happened to me). I thought maybe it was only a phase and it would die down: it didn’t. It got worse and worse. These are some tips for anyone who is having roommate issues and how to prevent and stop them.
1. Sign a roommate agreement
Most schools make you sign a roommate contract within the first few days of living together in the dorms. Take this seriously. If it asks who cleans the bathroom and on which days, pick a person and a day of the week. Don’t be lenient and say “oh we will figure it out ourselves” because chances are you won’t figure it out and the bathroom will never be clean. Fill out your contract as if you absolutely hate each other. Do not be easy on your roommate; make sure to say what is on your mind. If you have to go to sleep at 11pm on Tuesdays because you have an 8am and five classes the next day, then speak up. Do not let something slip by.
2. Talk it out
If something isn’t right, don’t ignore it. Let’s say your roommate is coming home every single night at 4am puking her brains out and crying about her most recent hook up (also happened to me), that’s not okay. You need to talk to her and tell her that she cannot do that at 4am when you have class at 8am the next day. Wait until she is sober or until her most recent hook up finally did something nice. But don’t ignore the issue. If you do so, chances are your roommate will keep doing what she is doing because she doesn’t care about anyone but herself and her partying habits.
3. Wait and see if she settles down
If you both signed a roommate contract expressing different things that you can and cannot do, and you talked about your issues, then everything should settle down and become normal again. Hopefully your roommate will understand what she was doing wrong and she will step up her game. Maybe this bump in the road will bring you both closer and will finally allow you to be friends and feel comfortable in your own room.
4. Move
If all else fails, move out. You want to be the bigger person and want to have your freedom back, so talk to your university and see what your options are about moving out. Maybe they have Open Room Change or a policy where you can move into a dorm that is far, far, far away from your previous roommate so you never have to see her again… I did that and it worked! Moving out should be the last option if you can’t fix your friendship and she isn’t budging. You will be happier and feel much better if you can breathe again and no longer have to worry about someone eating fries and popcorn at 5am, and then proceeding to scream because there is a roach in their garbage since they haven’t taken out their trash in 20 days (yep, went through that too).
Photo Sources:
http://blogs.westword.com/showandtell/LWP6.jpg
http://mycollegeguide.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/collegeroommates.jpg
http://cdn.phillymag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/e1241a24.jpg