Royal Purple

Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Lifestyle

Media Credit: Nou Thao

Living in an 11x15-foot space and paired randomly with a stranger for a year can be scary for any student choosing to experience the college dorm life. With less than two months left of school, students living in the residence halls have already decided if they can stand living with their roommate for another year, or if they can barely stand living with them another day and have already looked for someone else to room with.

There is the messy roommate, the loud roommate (especially when you're trying to get your homework done or go to sleep), the roommate who never leaves the room and the roommate who's never there. Then, there's the drunk roommate who stumbles in at 4 a.m., the roommate who talks about suicide, the roommate who eats all your food without asking, and the roommate who doesn't own shampoo or deodorant.

Just about every roommate has a horror story to tell. Arey/Benson Hall Director Christine Hollar said, "I have had a few ladies get into fist fights, threaten each other, and make unnecessary racial comments about a roommate."

Despite the roommate nightmares, there are also many ways to make living with a complete stranger a bit easier.

"The key is communication," Hollar said. "To listen as much as you talk and to pay attention to the interaction because what is being done can speak louder than what is being said."

Set ground rules and let the other person know when something is bothering you. Sophomore Elizabeth Marino who lives in Wells West said, "A big tip is just to talk to your roommate at the very beginning about things such as lights on and off, sharing food, etc. and then agree to let each other know if anything is bothering the other person about something."

Junior Michel Bourbonnais was paired up with a random roommate his freshman year.

"We talked about room rules and I also just learned to adapt to his style," he said. "If something bothered me, I told him. Ground rules were that if we had friends over, to let the other person know they were coming."

"Avoid stepping over your bounds, always ask before using something from your roommate, don't eat their food," Hollar said.

Though living with a roommate has its disadvantages, there are many advantages including:

1.) Having someone to share new experiences with. Especially for students who are away from home for the first time, or new to campus, having someone there who's going through the same thing can be soothing.

2.) Having someone to split the chores with. Alternate who takes out the trash and who vacuums.

3.) Having someone to talk to. Living by yourself can be lonely, so having someone to talk to about how your day went can be a relief.

4.) Roommates can be helpful to each other academically. If one person is good at math and one isn't, the perfect tutor and study partner is only a couple feet away.

5.) Living with a roommate helps students meet more people. When roommates invite their friends over, that creates more friendships and makes the student that much more comfortable at the university.

6.) The potential to learn about a different culture or background.

Though there are many advantages to having a room mate, the roommate experience is not for everyone. For those who choose to live solo, the university still has design singles available for fall 2008.

Some personalities that should seriously consider living solo are those who are, "self-serving, only think of themselves, narcissistic, rude to other people and those who feel the natural approach to life is the only way to live instead of taking showers should probably live alone," Hollar said.

Dorm life is one of the many great college experiences, as long as courtesy, communication and compromise are involved. Be the student who turns the relationship with their roommate into a lifelong friendship instead of a horror story.

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