Going off to college is an exciting and unique time in one’s life. You get to live on your own for the first time, and with that, you get to meet new people.
Living in the dorms can set you up to make memories with people who become some of your closest friends. There are many ways to make sure that you have good experiences with your roommate.
Being able to communicate with one another is important. Efficient communication will assist you and your roommate in getting to know each other as friends and improve potential awkwardness that comes with your living situation. Addressing concerns that are important to both of you validates feelings of safety with one another.
“My roommate and I were good with communicating since we first stepped foot into our room,” a sophomore at CMU, Jenna Rush said. “We told each other our schedules so we knew when the other had classes throughout the day. We would always make sure it was good with the other person if we had friends over. I think this was one of the ways that we became close in a short amount of time.”
Listening and compromising go hand in hand with communication. You should listen to your roommate’s wants and needs, but make sure they know yours as well. You should not have to give up everything so they can have their way. If your roommate wants to study and you want to listen to music, plug in some headphones so that you can listen to your music and your roommate also gets their quiet study space.
“If one of us was studying late, we would try to be as quiet as possible so that if the other one was ready to go to sleep they could do that,” Junior Kelly Hanrahan said.
Just because you are sharing a room with someone does not mean your roommate can automatically use your things without asking. On top of that, make sure that you ask before borrowing something off of their desk or wearing one of their shirts for the night.
Doing activities with your roommate is also a good tactic to try and get to know them better. However, living together doesn’t require you do everything together. Some time apart is important.
“We would take daily group naps together with our friends,” Sophomore Anya Shomento said. “Even if it was just hanging out for an hour, it was a good thing to do to unwind after a day of classes.”
If you have yet to share a room with someone, learning to be a good roommate can be difficult. Finding a sort of harmony with each other can make your college experience that much more fun.
