And They Were Roommates! 

For many, college is the first time you are living on your own, and living with people other than your family, and there’s often a learning curve that comes with it. I’ve gathered some advice I’d give to those living with roommates for the first time, along with some commentary from my own roommates! 

The most important point, that I cannot stress enough, is communication. Out the gate, don’t beat around the bush. Establish mutual respect and a way to be open and honest about your opinions and habits about how you live, and don’t be quick to judge or bite off someone’s head, listen calmly. Going hand in hand with this, be open to compromise! Your space is now a shared space, and to make it work for you both you may need to give a little on a few things. My roommate Michelle Teske ’26 advises, “Talking about potential issues before they become problems is great! Things like having people over or sharing food, so that when it comes up there’s already a solution”.

Knowing one another’s schedules is also important. This may mean class schedules, bathroom schedules (if you share a bathroom), sleeping habits, eating habits, if they’re a night owl or an early bird, etc. It’s important to know how your schedules work together, and sometimes it helps to create a schedule together to divvy up chores, shopping, cleaning, etc. 

To wrap it up I want to express how important I feel it is to live with roommates. My roommate Veronica Nardo ‘26 states, “Living with roommates is just as much of a beneficial learning process as every other facet of college!” and I couldn’t agree more. It’s important to know how you work with others and to learn how to communicate and compromise with others, and college is the perfect place for that.