Having a roommate sounds exciting at first, right? There’s always someone to talk to about your day, to check if your outfit looks good and to watch your favorite TV shows with. For most students, the roommate situation tends to start out very well for the first month, maybe even more.
But then the end of the semester comes around and everyone is beginning to get stressed and homesick and ready for Winter Break. This is when the aggravations tend to reach an all time high. Suddenly, every little thing about having a roommate becomes annoying – from the way they leave the bathroom a complete mess in the mornings down to the simplest thing like the loud, obnoxious way they chomp on their chips while you’re trying to study. It feels as if the room is being shared with some rude, disrespectful, barbaric animal rather than the fun bestie from two months ago.
This is why, on the first week two roommates move in together, straight from the get-go, they should talk about pet peeves and basic mannerisms. Just sit down and discuss each other’s study habits and cleaning habits. When the annoyances do come along, simply put it out there and tell the other person that what they’re doing is bothersome to you. If the frustrations are held inside, then the situation is never going to get resolved, and it will only progress and become worse as the whole year continues.
Living with someone who is already your best friend can present a whole new challenge to your friendship. Naturally, everyone gets annoyed with their best friend, and that’s when the time spent together is chosen between both people. Now, however, the two are forced to be with each other every single day while still being BFFs and hanging out during dinners and parties as well. The biggest problem with that is the struggle for some separation. Finding other friends to go out with orhaveamealwithona weekly basis can help with this.
Another problem two best friends will often face is the need for boundaries. Clothing, jewelry, shoes and perfumes may start to feel like fair game for best friends living together, but what if that necklace your roommate just snagged from you was your great- great-grandma’s who received it as a gift from the Queen of England? That would definitely not be cool. If there’s something that shouldn’t be touched, personal things to be left alone, make sure everyone in the room understands that.
Living with someone in such a small space can get hard, especially if it’s a new experience. Try with great effort not be the sloppy roommate who leaves dirty dishes in the bathroom or the disrespectful one who blasts their iPod too loud. Whether it’s an old friend or a new buddy, show some common courtesy and let each other know when either of you might be out of the room for long periods of time, and always let your roommate know if you’ll be coming back at three in the morning because that’s never fun to deal with unexpectedly.
The last and final tip to leave with is to keep all things where they belong. Throwing trash and dirty laundry everywhere is a big no-no. It is disgusting and creates a bad environment for two or more people to live in. If two people can be respectful and organized while living with each other, then the environment is a happy one, and problems will be less likely to occur.
