Living with Roommates

Living with Roommates

One of the biggest parts of the college experience is living with other people, which helps you not only to learn a great deal about yourself but also about what you do and do not like about others.  Entering a living environment with people you do not know can be a tough challenge; however, you can get the most from the situation by utilizing the following tips.

If you are making a move into an apartment on campus, you may not be familiar with your roommates.  Rather than waiting to find out who they are when you arrive, it is a good idea to get together beforehand and introduce yourselves.  While nobody likes rules, establishing a few ground rules early on that everyone agrees to can prevent problems later on.

Even if you are lucky enough to be able to pick people you know to move in with, living together is still very different to just socializing with one another.  People’s true colors emerge when they are at home, but some possible arguments could be averted if you are able to have open communication and a number of rules already firmly established prior to moving in.

Being courteous is always a good idea.  Living with a number of people means there will be a lot of shared space; while you want to feel that you are comfortable in your new home, so do the other people living there.  Setting limits on things such as bathroom time and cleaning can make the experience easier on everyone.