Getting used to new roommates is not always an easy thing. Some people may have a harder time than others opening themselves up to becoming friends with their roommate. While you may not end up being best buds with your roommate in the end, there are a few things that you can do with your roommate that will make sharing a living space a lot more enjoyable than it would if you were to accept each other as strangers.
1. Have a Roomie Dinner
If you are lucky enough to have access to a kitchen, offer to make your roommate dinner or that you and your roommate make dinner together! A home cooked meal is always better than what they are throwing together in the dining hall. If you decide to cook the meal together, the kitchen is an easy way to bond because even if you hit an awkward spot in the conversation there are plenty of opportunities that cooking gives you to jump in with. For example, “Does this look right to you?” or “Does the recipe say to use a ½ cup or a ¼ cup?”If you don’t have a kitchen, make the suggestion to your new roommate that you go out and try a local restaurant together. Anything is better than Ray!
2. Get Into a Television Show Together
Part of bonding is finding things that you have in common. If you are finding that you don’t really have much in common that is okay! You can make things commonality by doing something easy together. For example, Bachelor in Paradise, and other Bachelor franchise shows are great for roommate bonding! You can laugh at the contestants together for the absurd things that they do and say. It is also a subtle reminder to your roommate that living with you is definitely better than living with any of the nuts that are on TV.
3. Get Ready for the Night Together
The act of “Going Out” requires a lot of preparation for most girls. You have to do your hair, makeup, and pick out a cute outfit. If you do all of these things with your roommate, the time will pass by and hopefully you’ll have some fun together. As you stand in front of the mirror together, you can talk about what you hope will happen later on and what hot guy you hope to see out. Your roommate can also help you in making the crucial decisions of what outfit looks best and how to wear your hair.
4. Quote Wall
Having a quote wall is a fun way that you can keep the memories alive! How my roommates and I do it is whenever one of us says something that we all think is funny we write it down on a sticky note and tape it to our wall. Once you have a good amount of quotes, you can play a “Who said it?” game.
5. Attend Athletic Events Together
One thing that you definitely do share with your roommate is your school’s sports teams! It can be a lot of fun going to school basketball and hockey games with your roommate. You can get decked out in black and white together as you get Friar’d up for the game. Sports games are also great because there is always something to give commentary on. Player performances, our creepy mascot Friar Dom, and other fans, are all things that you can definitely talk about with your roommate while at the game. Also, having school spirit in general can definitely help you in having a good experience at school.
6. Coffee Runs
College requires a lot of energy, and coffee exists to help us keep up that necessary energy. Going on a coffee run can be done in a way to bond with your roommate in a couple of different ways. You could always offer to grab her a cup while you’re out, the offer alone would be a nice gesture, and she would most likely really enjoy the pick-me-up. Another way you could bond through a coffee run is if there is a cute coffee shop that you have been wanting to try, the one that you’ve been seeing on everyone’s snap stories. You and your roommate would then have the opportunity to have an off campus adventure with coffee as an added perk.
7. Make a Bucket List
There are all sorts of things PC students want to do before they graduate, jump in the koi pond, get on the jumbo screen, etc. There could be some things that your roommate has thought of that you haven’t. If you make your lists together, you will have better bucket lists, as well as a potential partner in crime!8. Hit the Gym Together
Hitting the gym with your roommate is a two for one deal in my opinion. You are getting a gym buddy, which motivates you to actually get to the gym. The second part is that you are bonding with your roommate by going with them and suffering together! There are also a lot of different options of workouts that the Providence College gym gives you as well. You and your roommate could go to a yoga class, zumba, or spin together. If none of those sound particularly appealing to you, there is also the standard treadmill and ab workouts that you can suffer through together as well.
9. Attend a School Performance Together
Going to see a school performance with your roommate is the perfect thing to do if things are going particularly awkwardly with your roommate. Seeing a show with your roommate is an easy thing to do, and can be really enjoyable. Not to mention, Providence College has a great theater department which puts on fantastic productions throughout the year. The best thing about this activity is that you can spend time with your roommate, and for the majority of the time, you don’t have to necessarily talk to them because the performance is going on. For once, not talking to someone won’t come off as being rude or uninterested. Then when it comes to the time where you are talking to your roommate at intermission or when the performance is over, you will have something to talk about because you would have both seen the performance.10. Join a Club Together
Finally, if you’re still struggling to find common ground with your roommate, or just want another excuse to hangout with her, join a club together. Providence College has a ton of clubs on campus that are great to join with a friend. From art club,figure skating club, to women’s rugby, the options on campus are diverse. Find something that suits the both of you and do it together. Joining Her Campus could be the best option because you can write pieces on completely different subjects and still be doing it together… just saying!
Hopefully, after giving these ideas a shot you and your roommate will be the next Brooke and Peyton or Serena and Blair. But if not, at least you will have some things in common after these experiences and can live together without wanting to tear each others’ hair out!