Connect With Your Roommates

At the beginning of the school year, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my roommates. I roomed with one last year; but this would be my first year rooming with the others. Add to the fact that I didn’t know them well, I was tense. Thankfully, one of my roommates resolved any awkwardness between us. During the first week of school, he took it upon himself to bring the four of us together. We played his videogames and chatted amongst each other in the living room. Those experiences are the reason we get along.

Students, establish relationships with your roommates. It’s hard to live with someone you barely talk with. Give yourself a chance to know them. I know it’s late in the school year and you figure you can tolerate this person a little while longer. But, it shouldn’t be like that.

During freshman year, it took me time to adjust to my roommate. He was a good person; but he wasn’t the type of person I’d hang out with. It was hard to give myself a chance to know him. It took an entire school year to realize how stupid I was for brushing him off. I was nice to him, but not as friendly as I should’ve been. Freshman year would’ve been much easier if I had done these things.

Communication is essential to get along with your roommate(s). You never know how he/she feels about something until you talk to them. Simply saying “hi” is not really communication. You say “hi” to anyone on the street. Your roommate is like a sibling, minus the arguments. It’s important to feel comfortable around your roommate as you do with family. College students deal with numerous issues. For some reason, many feel they have to deal with them alone. Roommates are alternatives to relatives/ close friends. I’m confident your roommate wouldn’t mind listening to your feelings.

Roommates have a tendency to do what they see. At beginning of last school year, I constantly had my room door closed. My roommates followed my lead. As expected, we rarely spoke to each other. I didn’t like the feeling of walking past their doors and not saying anything to them. So, I took it upon myself to keep my door open; and once again, they followed. As a result, communication improved.

Establishing relationships with roommates leads to many benefits. You won’t have to worry about doing things alone. You can eat, workout, and do other positive activities with them. I would’ve never partaken in intramural sports if not for my roommate. He looked out for me by signing me up. That wouldn’t have happened if our bond wasn’t strong.

It’s never too late to connect with your roommates. Where there’s unity, there’s peace. And no one wants to live in a stressful environment.