It is important to strive for a peaceful relationship with your college roommate.
Living in a small dorm room with a roommate that you may or may not know can be a challenging aspect of college life. If you're lucky, your college roommate will turn out to be a lifelong friend. On the other hand, your roommate may be just the opposite. In either case, living together in small quarters is difficult, and a tumultuous relationship can negatively affect many aspects of your college life. For your own sake, you will want to do your part to create a peaceful relationship with your dorm roommate.
Instructions
1. Be considerate of your roommate. Keep the noise levels down when necessary. If your roommate is trying to study, for example, keep your music low, and go elsewhere to socialize with friends. If she is is sleeping, go in the hallway to talk on the phone.
2. Share the space. Dorm rooms are usually uncomfortably small. Keep your belongings on your side of the room, unless you and your roommate agree to have a shared space for certain things. If you can't agree to decorate the room together, then keep your decorations in your space only.
3. Clean the room. When living in such small quarters, even a minor mess can clutter up the whole place. If you don't have time to organize thoroughly throughout the week, be sure to keep your mess on your side of the room, and clean as soon as you find the time. Messiness can cause tension, especially if your roommate is a very clean person.
4. Leave your roommate's belongings alone. No matter how tempted you are to borrow her clothes or even her pens, be sure to ask before using anything. The last thing you want to do is lead your roommate to believe you can't be trusted.
5. Set some rules with your roommate. Sit down at the beginning of the year and talk about what is okay and what absolutely is not. Discuss your sleeping habits, musical tastes and come up with shared cleaning duties so that you have a place to start. Find out how your roommate feels about subjects such as visitors, smoking and alcohol use.
6. Understand that sometimes roommates are just not a good fit. If you do your best to be a good dorm roommate and you still can't seem to make it work, talk to your resident assistant. Though most likely you will not be able to change rooms for the time being, your RA can help you figure out ways to solve conflicts or cope with an unhappy situation.
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