This week, one thing in particular stuck out in my mind: roommate problems.
Last year, I couldn’t WAIT to have a roommate and have coordinating bed sets... and have someone to hang out with all the time. I’m an only child, so I was convinced my roommate and I would have a sisterly bond. My roommate was also an only child, also blonde with blue eyes. We were similar heights, had similar interests, and even similar pasts. Both of us had never met our biological father. Both of us were going through a really rough break up. Both of us wanted to be ADPis. We were the “same person”.
I never realized how hard it was to live with someone. Within a week, we were fighting. The entire semester was a battle. She no longer attends Brenau, so this semester I have a new roommate. But now one of my close friends is having roommate problems. It never ends! The underlying problem in both of our situations was that we both thought because we were roommates, we had to be best friends. WRONG. That will never be true. If it is, awesome.
This semester, I have a new roommate. She’s new to Brenau and we aren’t very close. But now I’m constantly being told that I should bring her around with me more, hang out with her more, tell her more, share more… the list is endless. Where is the happy medium?
I am your roommate, not your mother. I shouldn’t have to take out the garbage every week. I shouldn’t be the only one cleaning. It’s not okay for you to pop in a movie at midnight because you don’t have class tomorrow even though I have an 8 am. If you leave your laundry in the dryer and have to go to class, it’s not my job to wait for it to finish to bring it back to our room! You are in college—don’t put in your laundry if you know you don’t have the time to watch it. No, I will not make your bed. What's mine is NOT yours. Most of this is common sense, but almost all of my friends have an endless list of complaints about their roommate simply not understanding the concept.
It’s okay to be polite without being best friends. It’s okay to be involved in different things. You are my roommate, we are not the same person.
I understand completely. My freshman year I roomed with a friend from high school (I felt so popular when everyone I knew at Brenau wanted to be my roomie). Things started off well enough; we had the same classes (mostly) and similar tastes, but then she stopped bathing (which is why your picture is so fitting). My sophmore roommate was a friend from elementary school, and she talked to her boyfriend on the phone 24/7. She wouldn't hang up until 1 or 2AM. The last two years I've had a room to myself, and I have to say, it's the best thing ever. I can watch a movie, or make pancakes, and there's no one else to worry about.
ReplyDeleteI promise you the roomie thing gets better. College is one thing and it's a good experience for future living arrangements.
Paying the extra $650 for a single was possibly the best decision I have made at Brenau yet. I didn't have any problems with my "alpha" roommate- in fact we got along great! But I knew I would be better off with my own space.
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