This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Montclair chapter.
It’s hard sharing a room or an apartment with another person. Whether that person is your best friend or a stranger; there will always be ups and downs. But nothing is harder than sharing your personal space with a roommate that isn’t a right fit for you. She likes to keep a little mess around and you need everything to be spotless. Don’t worry collegiettes! Live by these three rules to make things easier.
- Make a contract. Even though this may sound silly to some of you, making a contract right when you move in actually works. While you sit down with your roommate or roommates to discuss what exactly the rules should be of the room or apartment; you are getting to know them on a more personal level. This will give you an idea of what type of person you will be sharing your space with for the next semester.
- Treat others how you want to be treated. If you don’t like when your roommate lets her boyfriend stay the weekend; then you can’t have your boyfriend stay the weekend. Always keep in mind that whatever you do, your roommate or roommates will take it as they can do it too.
- Clean up after yourself! Some of us are used to having our parents clean up after us but now that we are in college, we have to clean up after ourselves. There is nothing more frustrating than coming back to your room or apartment and seeing your roommates things everywhere. This is a sure way to start an argument.
If you are following these three rules and you find that you and your roommate still aren’t getting along; it could be just because you are completely different people and don’t share the same likes and dislikes. If this is the case, don’t feel bad or hopeless. If you find each other in the room or apartment at the same time; talk to one another. Ask each other how your day was, no one said you need to be enemies. If you are in a situation where your roommate ignores you and clearly is giving off signs that she doesn’t want to be your friend, listen to those signs. Stay out of her way but don’t be mean about it. Take it as you two are sharing a living space and nothing more. Keep your personal life including friends out of it. Make plans to hangout somewhere else, you don’t want to make things more awkward than they already are.
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