Whether you’re living with a stranger on Upper or your best friends in the Mods, there are commandments of roommate relationships that everyone needs to follow. Breaking any one of these could ruin a friendship and lead to a tense, uncomfortable living environment– just ask the BC collegiettes™ below. They’re all anonymous, though, since we all know the Golden Rule of roommate relationships: thou shalt not bad-mouth your roomies (unless anonymously to Her Campus BC, that is).
1. Thou Shall Communicate
“Last year, my brother came to visit and stayed on the floor in my room. Apparently, my roommate was uncomfortable with this, but she didn’t say anything when I asked– she just went to the RA the next day and had me written up for cohabitation.”
2. Thou Shall Establish Rules for the Room
“My roommate and I got into a lot of arguments over music because I like to listen to Pandora while I study and she liked it quiet. Since we never made ground rules about it, I felt justified playing it and she felt justified turning it off, which led to way too many fights.”
3. Thou Shall Be Clean
“This girl in my hall didn’t think it was necessary to wash her underwear after every use. She’d put them on inside-out the day after she wore them to get two uses out of each pair.”
4. Thou Shall Branch Out
“I was in an eight-man when I was a sophomore and there were two girls in our suite that had been roommates as freshmen and just never really branched out. They got so comfortable with each other that they missed out on a lot of the bonding that the other six of us were doing.”
5. Thou Shall Contribute
“I brought the tv, minifridge, microwave, and posters for our room. My roommate brought nothing to share. At least an offer to split the costs would have been appreciated.”
6. Thou Shall Be Reasonable with Room Guests
“One of my friend’s roommates had a boyfriend who lived in Boston, so he would be over all the time. My friend would just crash with me when she knew she was going to be sexiled, but it was definitely a problem when she’d be trying to do homework and would turn around to find them in bed.”
7. Thou Shall Ask Permission Before Borrowing
“When my mom was visiting, she brought me a case of Diet Coke. I had given it up for Lent though, so I just left the box unopened under my bed. At the end of the forty days, I went to have a can, and there were only three left! I wouldn’t have cared if my roommate had asked for them, but it just bothered me that never said anything.”
8. Thou Shall Take Care of Shared Items
“Freshman year, my roommate and I shared a Brita filter, and it always bugged me that she would always use the end of the water and not refill it again. It’s just common courtesy.”
9. Thou Shall Respect Differences
“My roommate and I were totally opposite in terms of religious views– she’s very devout, and I’m just not a religious person. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but she always made me feel like I was inferior since I wasn’t going to church with her. You don’t have to love your roommates, but you need to respect them.”
10. Thou Shall Relax
“I’ve lived with the same direct roommate for four years, and the reason it works is that we both don’t freak out over little things. We annoy each other sometimes, but it’s important to take a step back and realize that your friendship is more important than the conflict.”
Photo Source:
http://youngadults.about.com/od/dormlife/tp/Everything-You-Need-To-Know-…