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8 essentials for living with your first college roommate
January 01, 2020
1. Be open-minded
Everyone has a different roommate experience; that’s important to remember. Whatever your situation might be, have an open mind about the person you are going to be living with for the next year. First impressions aren’t everything.
2. Make a bucket list
It’s important to do things together. Make a list of things you want to do this year, whether it’s just the two of you or with a group of friends. A few ideas: make a midnight run to Whataburger in Texarkana, go to a midnight premiere, see the Gurdon Light, take a study break at Waffle House, binge-watch a show on Netflix or have a Harry Potter marathon.
3. Talk about expectations
Take some time in the first few weeks to sit down with each other and talk through expectations about living together. When do you plan to go to sleep? Do you like music playing in the morning? How cold is too cold? These simple conversations can make living together so much easier!
4. Do your share of the cleaning
Maybe you aren’t super concerned about your room being clean all the time, but be understanding of your roommate if that is important to them – and vice versa. Talk about it and come up with a good system for cleaning, especially when monthly room checks start. It’s not fair to make your roommate clean the room alone; do your part and take care of your half!
5. Be a friend…
Not a parent! Your roommate doesn’t want you telling them what to do. They have parents for that. If something concerns or bothers you, then talk to your roommate as a friend, not as someone who knows more than them.
6. Get out of the room
Sometimes you feel like you only see your roommate inside the walls of the small space you share. It’s healthy to get out of the room together. Make plans to go to the caf or the student center, swing by happy hour at Sonic, take a Walmart trip, eat chicken and rice at El Parian or get some coffee at JavaPrimo.
7. COMPROMISE
The ten-letter word that will make everyone’s life easier.
8. Have a lot of FUN
Make as many memories as you can with your roommate! One day you’ll look back and remember all the funny and weird stories from your year together. Take a lot of pictures, too, because your mom will need them to make that scrapbook for you for one of your graduation presents.
Do you have a story you’d like to tell on the Ouachita Voices blog? Or a friend who needs to tell a story on the blog? Contact [email protected] with your idea.
Everyone has a different roommate experience; that’s important to remember. Whatever your situation might be, have an open mind about the person you are going to be living with for the next year. First impressions aren’t everything.
2. Make a bucket list
It’s important to do things together. Make a list of things you want to do this year, whether it’s just the two of you or with a group of friends. A few ideas: make a midnight run to Whataburger in Texarkana, go to a midnight premiere, see the Gurdon Light, take a study break at Waffle House, binge-watch a show on Netflix or have a Harry Potter marathon.
3. Talk about expectations
Take some time in the first few weeks to sit down with each other and talk through expectations about living together. When do you plan to go to sleep? Do you like music playing in the morning? How cold is too cold? These simple conversations can make living together so much easier!
4. Do your share of the cleaning
Maybe you aren’t super concerned about your room being clean all the time, but be understanding of your roommate if that is important to them – and vice versa. Talk about it and come up with a good system for cleaning, especially when monthly room checks start. It’s not fair to make your roommate clean the room alone; do your part and take care of your half!
5. Be a friend…
Not a parent! Your roommate doesn’t want you telling them what to do. They have parents for that. If something concerns or bothers you, then talk to your roommate as a friend, not as someone who knows more than them.
6. Get out of the room
Sometimes you feel like you only see your roommate inside the walls of the small space you share. It’s healthy to get out of the room together. Make plans to go to the caf or the student center, swing by happy hour at Sonic, take a Walmart trip, eat chicken and rice at El Parian or get some coffee at JavaPrimo.
7. COMPROMISE
The ten-letter word that will make everyone’s life easier.
8. Have a lot of FUN
Make as many memories as you can with your roommate! One day you’ll look back and remember all the funny and weird stories from your year together. Take a lot of pictures, too, because your mom will need them to make that scrapbook for you for one of your graduation presents.
Hannah Pilcher, a 2013 Ouachita graduate, serves as OBU’s resident director of Francis Crawford Hall.
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Do you have a story you’d like to tell on the Ouachita Voices blog? Or a friend who needs to tell a story on the blog? Contact [email protected] with your idea.
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