College housing can be a tricky situation. Figuring out where you’re going to live and with whom can be very stressful, and oftentimes, you will be placed into a suite with people you have never met before, as was my case. So here is a guide to make your life (and your suitemates’ lives) easier. This guide can also be helpful even if you’re living with your close friends, because even though you might love each other very much, you probably have very different living preferences.
1. Get to know each other.
I’m not saying you have to become best friends with all your suitemates, but knowing a bit about them is important as it makes communication easier. Once you have all moved in, you should get together in a common area of the suite, introduce each other and make some small talk.
2. Create a cleaning schedule.
My suitemates and I get together every couple weeks to create a cleaning schedule. Every weekend, someone is assigned to clean the common areas. You are always responsible for your room, of course. So in that week, that person cleans the kitchen, bathroom, dining table and takes out the trash. This obviously does not mean that the person cleaning is going to clean up other people’s messes, that is everyone’s individual responsibility.
3. Have check-ins.
Every once in a while, you should all meet up to discuss what is working and what needs to be improved. For example, someone might notice that the trash fills up quickly, so you all can create a better plan to manage the situation. Check-ins are a space for everyone to speak freely about how they feel and how you can all help each other have a more positive and comfortable living situation.
4. Make a groupchat!
This way you can communicate urgent things that simply cannot wait until your eventual in-person meeting. I don’t know about you all, but my suitemates and I live in a very old building that unfortunately gets a lot of rodents (I’m deathly afraid of them so this is personally extremely inconvenient). So every time we have a little furry visitor, we will text our group chat so whoever is available can call facilities services. This is such an unfortunate recurring problem that we have even renamed our suite group chat to “Mickey Mouse’s ClubHouse.”
These are my personal insights into ideas that might make living with suitemates easier! I hope everyone is staying safe and having fun this fall, both in your suite and outside of it.