When you come to college, you hope to become best friends with your roommate. What happens when it’s clear to everyone but your roommate, that you two are clearly not best friends? These are the stories of three sets of roommates that barely survived their freshman year.
Mary and Sarah*
You can’t get sleep unless you threaten to sleep in the hallway: Sarah was a very talkative roommate and always loved asking questions to get to know Mary better. Some people would call this friendly and others would call this nosy. From the moment Mary walked into her room until the moment she left, Sarah would not stop talking to her. Every Fairfield student can attest to the sacredness of sleep; it is the most important part of the day and should be interrupted for no reason other than a life or death emergency. When Mary would try to sleep, Sarah made it nearly impossible to sleep because she would never stop talking and did not understand that lights off meant it was time for bed. She would keep Mary up for hours. One particular night, Mary was so tired that she couldn’t handle it anymore. She told Sarah that she was going to sleep in the hallway if she didn’t stop talking. Sarah took this as a joke a proceeded with her story; Mary, completely serious, took her blanket and her pillow and sat in the hallway. It was not until Sarah went out to the hallway and apologized that Mary returned to the room.
Lesson Learned: Do not underestimate the lengths to which a college student will go to get enough sleep.
Your nosy roommate needs to know everything you’re doing on your computer: Like many college students Mary would sit at her computer to kill time or procrastinate. Every time she would read an article or watch a TV show, Sarah needed to know what the article or show was about. One night Mary had a lot of homework, so she sat at her desk to finish up some assignments. Sarah was ready for bed but told Mary that it would not bother her if she kept her computer on and finished her assignment. After about half an hour of Sarah tossing and turning in her bed, accompanied by passive aggressive sighs, she told Mary the light from the computer really bothered her and then got up and went to the bathroom. When Sarah came back to the room she stood right behind Mary and asked, “What are you even looking at on there?” Tired of Sarah’s constant need to know everything, Mary exploded and said, “You know what, Sarah? Its none of your f**king business!” Mary closed her computer and they both went to bed.
Lesson Learned: Being nosy and passive aggressive will not get you very far. Communication is key.
Lena and Sophia*
When your roommate never talks to you: Lena moved into her room freshman year very excited about college and especially about getting to know her new roommate. They did not speak much on move-in day because they were both busy decorating their room and saying goodbye to their families. The first time they had to themselves was that evening, after their first floor meeting. They didn’t really have much to say but Lena assumed that they would soon discover things they had in common. It quickly became clear that Sophia was not a very talkative girl; Lena didn’t expect them to become best friends but she thought they would be able to hang out in the room and talk like roommates. The only problem was that Sophia would never speak; they could go days without talking because they just had nothing to say. Lena would spend all day in a friend’s room or in other parts of campus in order to escape the awkward tension in her room. She would only be there to sleep. It was never clear whether Sophia had a problem with Lena, but they could never manage to have a full-length conversation.
Lesson Learned: You will not always have an easy conversation with your roommate.
Caroline and Carrie*
When you and your roommate become best friends: It is every college girl’s dream to become best friends with their freshman year roommate. When Caroline and Carrie met, they were best friends right off the bat and did everything together. They made all the same friends and whenever they weren’t in class they would always hang out together. Unfortunately, living with friends isn’t always easy and this was true for Caroline and Carrie. Slowly but surely they got tired of constantly being around each other. Everything Caroline did or said would annoy Carrie and everything Carrie did or said would annoy Caroline. It came to a point where they found it difficult to be in the room for long periods of time without being annoyed by the other’s presence.
Lesson Learned: Expand your friend group and don’t rely on your roommate to be your best friend.
Living with a stranger is never easy. When living with a new person, communication is everything. You might be surprised where a short conversation can get you and your roomie!
*Names have been changed to protect the identities of these students.