By: Anonymous
I have had my share of college roommates. First semester in college my roommate moved out three months into the first semester. The reason she gave was that I was always in the room. I was always in the room because it was the first three months in college and I am not good at making friends. So, she complained to res life and moved out. The funny thing is, I later found out that she dropped out and went to a different college closer to home.
When she moved out, I did not want to be alone so I requested a roommate change and I moved in with a friend. Everything was fine with us up until sophomore year when we had two new roommates in our quad. One of them was a complete control freak and wanted everything her way, the other was a drug addict. It was at this point that all three of them started leaving me out all because my boyfriend was getting serious and I wanted to spend time with him. It only escalated from here.
The drug addict roommate dropped out and the control freak moved out to live with new roommates. So, it was just me and my original roommate junior year. This is when she completely shared ignoring me and not inviting me to anything. For some reason, I am living with her this year and two other roommates. Not to mention, she stole my boyfriend’s friends and constantly hangs out with them. Anyway, here are some tips with living with toxic roommates:
1. Set clear boundaries
2. Communicate about issues
3. Involve an Ra if needed
4. Call out manipulative behavior
5. Ignore negativity
6. Pick a hobby or find new friends who are there for you
The best thing you can do is communicate and don’t take their actions to heart. There is probably some unresolved issue that they feel the need to lash out hurt others. The best advice I can give to you is if they don’t respect you or your choices, then move out. RAs are very helpful and you will feel much better.