College roommates -- a major part of the college experience and too often a major cause for concern for incoming freshmen. Whether you find your roommate through Facebook, GroupMe or you are assigned one, getting to know them is in your best interest. This article will help you avoid the horror stories and hopefully it will make the college transition process much smoother.
The practical reasoning behind getting to know your roommate involves all of the shared items that will be in your future dorm room. You must discuss these things beforehand, otherwise you are destined to have a problem once you move in. Things like televisions, Keurigs, box fans, area rugs, microwaves and fridges are all items that are typically shared between roommates. Figuring out who's bringing what ahead of time will significantly decrease the likelihood of confusing and expensive mishaps. For example, my roommate and I have split up the expensive purchases and decided to go half and half on an area rug that fits both of our themes. She's getting the box fan and the TV and I'm getting the Keurig and the mini fridge. We found a way to split the cost of dorm shopping so that we wouldn't spend a small fortune before ever stepping foot in our hall!
Practicality is important, but I think I speak for most college students when I say that I'd like my relationship with my roommate to involve a bit more than just sharing a mini fridge. If you reach out to your roommate over the summer you might just find that you have some similar interests. These will make becoming friends much simpler, and who doesn't want to be friends with their roommate? My roommate and I discussed music, fashion, sleeping schedules, hobbies and even which side of the room we saw ourselves on. We found that we had quite a lot in common and we had time to discuss the things that we felt differently about.
If you get the chance to actually meet your roommate in person, take advantage of this opportunity! This will allow you to get acclimated to their habits and mannerisms before you ever have to share a room. This is also more than what most roommates do, so while everyone else is trying to get to know their roommates the first few days, you two can go out and meet as many new friends as you'd like or scope out places on campus that are interesting for both of you. I was able to visit my roommate down at the shore for a weekend and we found out that we are basically the same person and we really enjoy each other's company! I am so thankful that we are already such great friends because we can now enjoy these new experiences together.
Even if you aren't best friends right away, it is still comforting to know that you are familiar with at least one person before you move in. If you are put off at first by some of their statements or beliefs, just take a deep breath and wait it out. They may just be nervous to meet you and a bit of nerves is good; that means that they want you to like them! Give your roommate the benefit of the doubt for a little while. I'm sure you'll break the ice sooner than you think. Writing them off before you get to campus and jumping to the worst case scenario will only put a damper on your college experience, so stay positive and use this time before move-in day to find those common threads. Remember that any relationship takes work and the more work you put in, the better the outcome.
