How to deal with a roommate

    It is into the second semester of college and for the most part you and your roommate probably got along decently well for the first semester. Now you are both getting on each others nerves and really seeing just how this person is. Even if the roommate used to be your best friend you may be starting to realize that some people just are not roommate material. I have a few tips for you to be able to make it through the rest of the semester without having a major blow up. (And no, I don't always follow my own advice on this one.)

     The first thing is first on this whole topic, just because someone is a bad roommate for you doesn't mean they wouldn't be okay with someone else or that they aren't a good person. It just means that for you at that specific time having them as a roommate is not working.

   

 If you are a generally clean person and your roommate just so happens not to be try not to let it get to you too much. I know that it can be rather annoying to walk into a room and see trash everywhere and be the only one that ever cleans but some battles are not worth fighting and honestly trying to change someones cleaning habits is almost impossible. Just keep your own stuff picked up and clean and if you have to spend some time outside of your room so you don't have to see the mess. Or you know you could always hang a sheet dividing your room...just kidding...kinda...no really you probably shouldn't do that.

 

Honestly this probably worked better when you first started school because neither you or your roommate really knew how the other person was. If you were like me and my roommate then you guys both cleaned every week and switched off who cleaned the bathroom and who cleaned the closet and dorm room. Now that fell through towards the end of last semester because I always felt like things needed to be clean so I ended up cleaning them myself just to save time because I was actually around on Fridays, which were the designated cleaning day....especially if people were coming over on the weekend. At this point however your roommate and yourself have gotten comfortable enough with each other that you have a pretty decent idea of what you guys can and can't do around the other person. One of those things tends to become that your roommate could possibly pick up on the fact that if they just don't clean then you will do it all. That is where a cleaning schedule/ certain people being responsible thing could come into play. Now the bad thing about this is that there are no guarantees. The only guaranteed way I have found that the room will get clean is if you leave it to get nasty enough they don't want to live in it and clean, not a fun way...trust me, or just clean it yourself. So you will have to use your own judgment on if this one will work for you or not.

 If you have having issues with a roommate not buying food or drinks or anything like that and they always have you buy them then you need to sit down and tell them that you guys are no longer going to split things. You are going to buy what you want/need and they are going to have to buy what they want/need. That isn't to say be an ass if they ask to borrow some milk for cereal or something but not splitting who buys what each time keeps you from always having to buy it and never getting to use it.

Depending on where you go to school pets could mean a lot of different things. In most dorms pets mean fish, if you live in an apartment pets could mean anything that apartment allows. If you are having roommate problems in a dorm or apartment and you already have a fish/pet then great don't get rid of it just because your fighting, just keep and eye on it and make sure that everything looks normal and they are acting normal. Most roommates don't screw with peoples animals that they already have but its a possibility. Also be careful of leaving them at school while going home and expecting your roommate to actually take care of them. A lot of times a roommate will say they will take care of something and then they don't. If you have a betta you could always take them home with you on the weekend, but be aware that that does stress the fish out. If you don't already have animals and you are fighting with a roommate don't get one. That brings that animal into a stressful environment and that is not nice to the animal at all. Unless they are fish. Fish are generally clueless to anything going on. Still though don't get a fish if you think your roommate would try to kill it to make you upset.

   
I know this sounds easy, but I know from experience it isn't always. If there is something going on in your room you don't like, then talk to your roommate about it. They may not see it as a problem and after telling them they might understand that it is. However they could also just plain not listen to you when you tell them something is bothering you and that you would like them to stop doing it. Asking someone to clean more can be a challenge just because you are kind of insulting their cleanliness. However asking someone to stop doing something illegal in your room, or to stop bringing things in that smell like it is another story. You need to tell them what they are doing bothers you and if they don't stop get some advice from your RA or APA. If you live in an apartment you could always evict them, but unless you have the money to cover their part of the rent I wouldn't completely advise that option.


This is a last resort option, especially in the second semester. However if you feel like you just aren't being listened to and you are not being respected talk to your RA about being moved to another room. You may get lucky and someone on your floor you like may not have a roommate at this point, or you may have to move to a whole different building all together. I don't advise moving out depending on how long you have left in a semester because if you are friends with people on your current floor you wont't just be able to run down the hall and hang out anymore.

     There you have some tips on how to deal with a roommate that is driving you insane. Just keep in mind another quick fix would be to spend less time in your room and more time with your friends if your roommate never leaves the room. I wish you luck with your roommate and hope that you can figure out a way for you guys to finish the semester, since more than likely you won't ever have to live with them again.

P.S.- Also remember that just because you couldn't live with them doesn't mean you can't be friends with them. You just have to figure out if the friendship is worth keeping or not.