Don’t panic or sweat; you made the right decision to live with a friend or a couple of friends this semester! Regardless of whether you’re inhabiting a crammed little dorm, a larger suite-style north campus room, or a party-house on Cleveland, you may feel paranoid about all the usual rumors. You may ask yourself: Will this ruin my friendship? Will I have enough space to be myself and do my own thing? Will this affect our relationship in any way?
This is the start of my sophomore semester, and I admit that I may have been worried a little about moving in with a very close friend. However, I am determined to break the stereotype and make our friendship last, all while having a successful, fun, and healthy school year! All of you can join me on this journey, and we will have each other.
I have devised a list of ways to make these living situations work: Create your own space-bubble, take some time off from each other, at least once during the week have a habitual hangout doing something fun, and always, always, always be open and honest about bothersome situations or habits. Being blunt may not be the best option, but if you are close enough, and if you handle it skillfully and tastefully, then this method just might work.
Creating your own space-bubble is pretty self-explanatory: put your own belongings on each side of the room and let it be known to everyone that you have marked your territory. This will make it possible to have your own identity and will show that you are both important and have an equal say in what goes on within the room. This may vary if you are very open with your living space, and do not mind having overlapping belongings.
Too much time together, especially for girls, is asking for nit picking and annoyances that were never noticed when you did not live together. Having your own separate time with other friends and various activities is essential and keeps up a healthy balance. In addition, this way there will be more to talk about and offer during daily conversations; you’ll have your shared and independent stories that haven’t been heard. Yet, being involved in some similar activities helps any relationship and friendship to grow, as you both have things in common to make you stronger.
Having designated days or one day a week to have a room social or hangout, go to the gym, have dinner on Main street, or a shopping day is always fun to look forward to and this allows for new memories to be made. This makes it so that if there are days that you are busy and separate from your roomies or roomie, there is a time to unwind, relax, and catch up on how life is going.
Lastly, honesty, in this sort of situation, is the best and most important policy. Being an expert communicator can prevent or lessen hurt feelings, habits that may be disturbing studying or peacefulness, and help with uncomfortable situations that can be avoided. The best relationships are built on trust, honesty, and open communication, and without those, unless you two are the masters of passive-aggressiveness—which I do not highly recommend because it is NOT OKAY—then your relationship was doomed from the beginning; living together is just the end of all that is good…joking…hopefully.
I hope all this info has helped, and have a semester full of positive energy!