During the Fall semester, you might’ve figured out that rooming with your best friend wasn’t the greatest idea. You may have also found out things about your random roommate that you never wanted to know, like how infrequently she showers. Whatever your rooming situation may be, you may have gone home for Winter Break with an unspoken elephant residing in your dorm room, apartment or house. Confrontation is something we all fear, but facing our problems becomes necessary when we come home after an exhausting day of studying to a room covered in a mess that we didn’t make. So, here are some resolutions that you and your roommate should keep to make this semester much more bearable and pleasant than the last.
1. Establish rules about when people can come overWhether your roommate is your best friend or a person whose last name you don’t even know, we can all agree that there is nothing more unpleasant than walking out of the shower in a towel and no makeup at 1 a.m. to see an entire fraternity sitting on your couch. Not cool, roomie. These inconvenient and slightly embarrassing situations can be avoided as long as there is open communication about when it’s okay to let the boys (or girls) come over.
2. Clean up after yourselfIt sounds like common sense, but every collegiette has her share of horror stories, such as the tampons left in an unflushed toilet, the hairballs big enough to form a small kitten in the shower drain or the dried puke haphazardly left in the trash can. If you still can’t seem to convince your savage-like roomie to wash her hands every time after using the bathroom, Bath & Body Works is a great place to hit up and invest in portable hand sanitizers to carry everywhere, with scents like red velvet cake and honey blossom pear bunny.
3. Stand your groundIf you’ve told your roommate millions of times that it’s not okay to leave her empty bottles of wine all over the kitchen without asking if you want some, then stick to it. Everyone knows that it is just rude not to ask your roommate to partake in fun events that can turn into Sex and the City marathons. But seriously, form rules and stick to them. If you need to, formulate a written contract that becomes the law of the land, or at least the law of your janitor closet-sized dorm.
4. Be pleasantAfter all, best friend or not, you live with this person and there is no reason to hold grudges or maintain a hostile household. Open communication and understanding with your roommates will make everyone’s life more enjoyable. Let’s face it; we don’t have to like the people we are living with, but we do have to respect them and their space.
If none of these tips work and your roommate still makes you want to drown yourself in passive aggressive gestures and brownies, then I have good news to share with you… There are only four more months until summer!
Photo Credit:mashable.com