Getting Along With Your Roommate
In the halls, you have the opportunity to interact with others, participate in activities, initiate thought-provoking discussions and make lifelong friends.
With these opportunities, you are expected to:
- treat others with respect
- communicate concerns to others
- ensure your actions do not infringe on others
- keep your floor/suite/hall clean
Please refer to our Roommate Communications Brochure to assist you with having a successful roommate experience
Living with a roommate can be one of the most rewarding, fun, educational, and (especially before you arrive) worrisome aspects of coming to college. Movies and TV shows portray roommates as your best friend or your worst enemy. Rarely is either situation the case. The truth is that a roommate relationship is like most relationships – it requires mutual respect, understanding, a common set of goals, and a good sense of humor.
Many roommates become good friends and grow to value and enjoy each other’s company. Some become life-long friends. A few simply aren’t compatible, even after putting extra effort into the relationship. In those cases, we work to make the living situation as comfortable as possible and, if necessary, make room changes.
You and your roommate(s) are bound to hit some tough patches, all relationships do. That’s why it is important to establish clear, healthy patterns of communication.
Here are some steps you can make to resolve things on your own:
1) Have you all talked to each other? Communication is the first step to resolving a conflict.
2) Use your RA: Your RA is a great resource for many things including being a third set of eyes and ears to help you and your roommate(s) work through conflicts.
3) Compromise: This will require you spending the time to understand what each person in the conflict values/wants and trying to find a middle ground together. The infamous “agree to disagree” can also assist compromise as it allows you to stand up for your needs/opinions without invalidating the others.
4) Expect Success: Entering a difficult conversation or conflict with optimism can help set you up for success. This also applies to the goals/changes you create and commit to in response to the conflict. Creating realistic goals to avoid future conflict, starts with setting communication goals and ends in exploring ways you all can help make your space a great place for everyone.