Living with a New Roommate

by Victoria B., Panther Blogger

For my first two years at Ferrum, I had the same roommate, who was a girl that I was really good friends with in high school. We got along great and always had a great time. This year, she did not return to Ferrum and I am living with a new roommate. Since I’m experiencing living with a new roommate and I know that many other students are doing the same, I figured that I would give some advice about the experience.

Rooming with a person can either harm your friendship or make it greater. When you live with someone, you learn things about them you would never expect, and you must learn to accept who they are. You have to learn to balance your life with your other friends while also trying to incorporate your roommate into your social life.

You also have to establish some basic rules of how to live in the same room. For example, if you have something personal that you don’t want anyone to touch, just tell your roommate; they should understand. If you have a problem with your roommate, you need to be straight forward with them about it and tell them you are having an issue. If you don’t, the problem will usually not resolve itself and could get worse. It is better to have a small argument earlier than a huge argument later on in the year.

Making shirts with paint is a great bonding activity for roommates

Everyone has their own style of living and dorms are a small space. You must both learn to share equally the space you are given while also being able to be yourselves. If you are uncomfortable being yourself around someone you’re living with, it will make for a very miserable year; get to know your roommate and find things that you have in common. It could also help to plan things to do together like movie or game nights in the room. Living with someone new can be a very difficult challenge, but it could lead to a great friendship!