R-E-S-P-E-C-T: find out what it means to Mesa students who are living with roommates. To these students, respect is everything.
Stacey Maxwell, and Alisha Hayes are two freshmen currently living in Pinon who, like many college roommates, had never met one another before the day they moved into the space they were to call home for the next year of their lives. “The only contact we had before meeting was one email,” Hayes said. The pair has come a long way since that initial contact and now considers themselves to be great friends.
Never having a roommate prior to college, the idea of living with a stranger in a single room was new. Both admit, in the beginning, it was difficult to trust one another.
Now, after seeing the two roomies, one would never know that the pair were compete strangers just months before. With the two bouncing witty comments back and forth, an observer could easily conclude that they have been friends for years. Both agree, that becoming friends with roommates, or tolerating them at the very least is due in part to one simple word: respect.
“Sometimes you’re loud in the morning Stacey, and I’m a light sleeper,” Hayes told Maxwell, and probably not for the first time.
“Sometimes she turns the light on at night,” Maxwell said. But if these problems are the most that the girls are faced with, then they must certainly are following their own advice.
Just across the hall from the pair lives another stranger-turned-friend, Stephanie Massimino.
“I just walk in and out of their room as I please,” Massimino said with laughter. She explains that her own roommate and herself lead completely different lifestyles but, “get along phenomenally” However, Massimino has witnessed others with the opposite and going through as many as seven roomates in a matter of six months.
“Its really easy to get along with you roommate if you’re not a [jerk]” Massimino said followed by nods of agreement from Hayes and Maxwell.
“Just be genuinely polite to them, don’t expect them to clean up after you, and try to be respectful of each other,” Massimono said.
“The people that surround you matter too, you have some people that are nice, you have others that are not so nice. We look at it as we all live here, let’s make this the best we can. If I do not get along with someone on my floor, I just ignore it, no big deal. People can act as if they are in high school sometimes, that really becomes the problem, how mature you are,” Massimino said.
Lack of respect and maturity may cause problems but the girls have taken notice to roommates who were friends prior to going to college.
“Others are not successful because they come in as friends from before college then live together. Once they’re together 24/7 and in a position where they are always with the other, its hard for them. That’s our advantage, we were complete strangers, and also, we’re just not mean to each other,” Hayes said.
“The most difficult thing about having a roommate is getting used to that person and learning to trust them with your belongings,” freshmen Michael Turner said.
The women agreed, setting up rules and boundaries up front is key.
“We tested the water to see what bugged each other,” Hayes said.
Freshman Gabby Palicki agrees. “Be upfront with your roommate right away of what you expect, otherwise you will live in agony,” Palicki said.
“Don’t expect anything right away, you cannot expect to be best friend right off the bat. You have to expect bumps in the road,” said Maxwell.
Forrest McCleary a Residence Assistant at Pinon Hall, says that it is common to have roommates change. The biggest problems with roommates are cleanliness, and personality differences. He said that for every 20 rooms, 3-4 people wish to change rooms. This year, however, there he has only dealt with 1 change.
Hayes puts it nicely. “It boils down to respect. If both people are adults about the situation, it is so easy to get along with them.”
Mixing the golden rule with a dash of respect seems to be the simple recipe to a successful roommate-ship and possible friendship.
Recent Comments