Life Lessons Courtesy of College - 6

Roommates Won't Always Be Friends

My college career has been riddled with plenty of unsuccessful roommate situations beginning freshman year and ending with my senior year. I am all about hitting the grindstone when it comes to studying for classes as a college degree will be your best tool when it comes to hitting the job market. However, my freshman year roommate hit the grindstone a little too hard and insisted the room be silent all the time with no visitors. Unfortunately, this was not my ideal living situation. However, when it comes to living with roommates, compromising is of upmost importance. Luckily she moved out second semester to another room down the hall and I was left with a room all to myself. Lesson learned from roommate 1: don't rock the boat too much because things will work out in the end. 

When my sophomore year began, I decided to live in my sorority house. With that living situation came 78 roommates, 4 of which lived in my individual room. Living in a house full of girls does not come without its fair share of drama. While I am a drama-averse person, two of my accompanying roommates had bad blood between themselves which in turn created a hostile living situation. While they insisted on "choosing sides" I did my best to stay out of any drama. Lesson learned from roommates round 2: do not engage in inter-roommate drama as it could only get uglier. 

My junior year began with me living with 2 of the former girls from my sorority house and we were all excited to be living together again. Unfortunately, we failed to heed the "don't room with your best friends" advice and looking back, I wish we had as that friendship quickly came to an end. When it comes to a trio of friends, someone is always the odd-girl out and for us that odd person out became me. The friendship fizzled and communication within the apartment came to be nonexistent. We kept to ourselves and hung out with different people. Lesson learned from roommates round 3: don't live with your best friends. 

My senior year, I chose to live with a new friend I made as well as a roommate suggested to us by our leasing agency. We were excited and appeared to all be similar in terms of cleanliness and respect for others. The day of move in, our agency stuck a random 28-year old roommate in the apartment as well. So far, we have had extreme trouble collecting money from her for bills and the apartment is consistently left a disaster, especially the kitchen area. This leads to high stress and extreme frustration. Lesson learned from roommates round 4: always communicate with your roommates and set rules and boundaries.

After these 4 roommate ordeals you could say I am ready to venture out and live on my own already. However, never let these types of situations let you down or frustrate you too much. Learn to compromise, stay clear of any inter-roommate squabbles, and always respect your other roommates. Enjoy the 4 years of college and don't stress too much on the little things. 

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