How To Adjust To Having A College Roommate

Living on campus is quite an adjustment, especially if you have a roommate. If you have always had your own room at home and never shared a room with anyone before, it could be a huge adjustment. This isn’t to say just for you but for your roommate as well. You want to be able to get along with your roommate since you will be spending the entire semester with them. You don’t have to be best friends but getting along will make your college experience more enjoyable.

The first thing that will should do when you get to your dorm and you arrive before your roommate is to set up your bed, your desk and your closet. If you have a coffee maker or a microwave, hold off on setting it up until your roommate arrives. This way it doesn’t look like you are invading her space too. If there is room on your half of the room then you can set them up but in the common space it is best to just wait. You could also be nice and offer the use of the microwave and coffee maker but as long as you add that if you are the last person to use it and it is dirty then it would be their responsibility to clean it. Most students have that respect already but there are others that don’t.

Once you and your roommate have settled in and school has gotten underway, you will want to be more respectful of the other person. If you are an early riser and your roommate doesn’t have to be at her class until later, try to be as quiet as possible when leaving the room. They will most likely do the same if you try to make an effort first. Another form of respect is if you have a stereo and you are in the room studying and your roommate comes back and you are playing the music. It would be polite to ask if she would like you to turn it down? There may be times when you need music to study but she or he may not. So invest in some headphones too.

Another way to respect each other’s privacy is if you have a cell phone and it rings and your roommate is studying; ask her if she wants you to leave while talking. Your roommate doesn’t really want to hear your conservation and then again they might so protect your own privacy and step out of the room when talking. You would expect her to do the same. The same premise would be if you have a friend of two over. You and your roommate should talk about this even before it happens.

This way there are no problems down the line. You could come up with a schedule of when and how many friends that you can have at once in the room. You can have a successful relationship with your roommate as long as the two of you are on the same page. Talk everything through and you will see that you will get along just fine.