Whether you are moving into a dorm room at college for the first time or moving into a house with a group of girls, there are always ups and downs of having roommates. At first you might not like them, unless you have already met, but eventually a conversation will be flourished, along with some adventures. When I first moved into college, it took one glance for me to dislike my roommate, which was very hypocritical of me to do without getting to know her. We could have liked the same sports team or have the same favorite movie, but I was not interested in knowing any of that or being her friend, at the time, because her appearance did not match mine or any of my friends. Judging my first college roommate only lasted for 10 minutes until she started a conversation. After the first conversation, she was the sweetest, funniest; outgoing and outspoken person I have ever met. Before I knew it, I became attached to her. We would go to music festivals, parties, the library, concerts and end up at diners in the middle of the night.
As the school year progressed, I picked up on things that annoyed me about her. For instance, she would not clean her desk after eating so the smell of her food would remain in the room, she would only do her bed on the weekends, play her clarinet late at night and she would not pick up after her hair. There are ways to approach roommates when some of the things they do annoy you. In my situation, I decided to pick up after my roommate with the mentality of helping her clean up after herself. I would make her bed, vacuum, and throw out her garbage whenever I was doing my chores and I was cautious to do these things for her when she was not around. Sometimes people take things the wrong way and I did not want my roommate to feel like I was not acceptant of her lifestyle nor did I want her feelings to get hurt. At first, she was surprised and after seeing that I was constantly picking up after her she started picking up after herself and I no longer had to do it. Another approach that I would have taken if she did not start take action for herself, I would have had a conversation with her about maintenance and what bothered me so that she would be able to understand were I was coming from.
Living with a roommate or roommates for the first time can be frightening. You never know the type of person you will end up with. They can either be mean, loud, weird or shy, sweet, funny, respectful, etc. All it takes is for you to find out by speaking and interacting with them, even if they do not appeal to you, giving someone the chance to meet you can be the beginning of a friendship. Of course, if you give them the chance and you both can’t be around each other, you can either set boundaries or move. Even if things do not workout between your roommate and yourself, you will never be alone and will always have company!
