How to Get Along with your College Roomates
There will always be something in your college life that will simply fall out of your control. Meeting your new dorm roommate is one of the cases that you can’t predict. On the one hand, you might meet ‘your person,’ who will be there for you till the end of your days. On the other hand, this acquaintance can turn into a real disaster, and your next year or a couple of years will be like walking on the edge.
However, even though there are some things that you can’t control, it is highly important to exert every effort and fix the areas that you can fix. For instance, when you meet your roommate for the first time, you do have a chance to start off your academic journey on the right foot. How? We have some good recommendations that you’re welcome to share with your friends.
Get to Know Who Your Dorm Roommate Is Before You Arrive
If there’s a chance to get to know your new roommate before you arrive on campus, make sure to use it! Do some social media searching to get more info. Finding your new roommate on Instagram or Facebook will help you to understand the person better and set that initial connection that is very important. The point is that social media is an amazing tool in the hands of those who want to make new friends and keep in contact with old ones.
If your college provides you with the email of your roommate, get in touch with them before you get to the college dorm. Thus, the first meeting will be less awkward.
After you’ve made a decision to keep on with getting to know your roomie better, there are some other ways that you can melt the ice before the beginning of the academic year.
Keep in Touch Regularly
Just texting here and there during a day before you move in is really helpful. Chatting with your new roomie can become the first step to your friendship. If you know that you’re going to live with two roommates or more, go ahead and start a group chat before you all meet. Thus, the move-in day will be much more comfortable. If you’re not sure about what questions to ask or what to say during online communication sessions, go ahead and discuss just about anything: how good or bad your summer was, what your common interests are, what writing help services you use (like, “hey, you know this site? No? Click this link here now!”), back-to-college stress, or what you’re going to bring to the dorm.
Meet Your Roomie in Person
If there’s an opportunity to meet your potential roommate before the move-in day, make sure you do that! If there’s some distance between you all, ensure to pick a date and have a facetime call. Just talking or meeting tête-à-tête is a must for the reason that many people turn out to be completely different from what you’ve read on the screen. Chatting over Skype or hanging out in-person is an amazing opportunity to ease the process of transition from complete strangers to good friends.
Do Something Together
When the move-in day finally comes, it is time to get to know each other better. One of the best ways to bond is by doing some activities together. Decorate your room, go shopping, unpack the things that you brought to school to see what holds special meaning to you two.
Carefully Set Boundaries
This is the subject that many roomies tend to avoid; however, setting boundaries is important to ensure you’re going to live in a healthy environment.
Lay down some rules that are relevant to your room. For instance, you might want to divide the room to make sure you two will have an equal part of space. To make sure every person sharing the dorm room is provided with a healthy headspace, discuss some general boundaries regarding the sounds, such as listening to music or lectures and set the most appropriate timeframes for these activities.
What is more, you have to talk about what you really think about inviting friends or family over, sharing clothes and make-up items, cleaning, bedtimes, and so on.
Be Yourself Too
More often than not, your first roommate becomes your first friend in college. Nonetheless, make sure you meet new people as well! College is the time of your life when you’re supposed to spread your own wings and do your own thing. Having both – good pals and extracurricular activities will help you and roommate maintain a healthy friendship that won’t let you two get sick of each other eventually.
After all, dorm life is meant to be the kind of life experience that you should recall with warmth in your heart. The memories that you ensure to make today will be the ones you’ll tell your kids about in the future and treasure for good. In other words, starting off in a good manner with your roomies is crucial. That being said, have fun, and enjoy your college years!