How to get along with the stranger in your room — habits of a good roommate

Most students do everything they can to ensure they get good roommates. But some students find themselves sharing a room with a person who gets on their last nerve.

Here are tips that students agree make living with roommates easier and more fun.

Try to see things from your roommate’s perspective

“Be understanding,” said Loryn Anderson, a sophomore in psychology. “Kind of look at it from the other person’s point of view and try not to get too frustrated so fast.”

Not everyone thinks the same way, and people often differ in opinion and habits. One way to solve conflicts is to take a breath and listen to the other person and see where they are coming from.

Communicate with your roommates

Communication is another important aspect of roommate life, said Hannah Robinson, a sophomore in social work.

She said good roommates are willing to work with each other instead of ignoring problems.

“Never talking to each other is definitely not a good quality to have,” Robinson said. “You have to be willing to work with each other and find things to talk about other than, I guess, always being gone or choosing to hide in your room.”

Get to know your roommates — not their pantry

Along with being able to talk things out, sharing interests can help roommates get along better, said Draven Salmon, a sophomore in computer science.

He said having a roommate who shares values and similar interests helps when it comes to communicating.

But sharing only goes so far. Remember to respect other’s belongings to be a good roommate.

“People that don’t eat your food, that’s the biggest thing,” he said.

Be clean

A popular topic when it comes to roommates is cleanliness.

A bad roommate is one that doesn’t clean, Salmon said.

“They’re the kind of roommates that leave their dishes in the sink or don’t take out the trash or just leave their stuff all over the house,” he said.

Practice tolerance

Being a good roommate doesn’t always come easily, and learning to live with new people can take some work and getting used to.

“Just doing what you can, treating the space and treating them like you would want them to do it,” said Austin Humphries, a sophomore in civil engineering. “The habit just starts forming on its own after you work at it for a little bit.”

Not all roommates become friends, and disagreements happen.

“As long as they’re willing to tolerate each other, you don’t necessarily have to get along,” said Sariah Dutkiewicz, a freshman in biology. “You just have to be able to tolerate each other and to be able to sit down and talk to them.”

Even if some roommates aren’t the easiest to get along with there could always be a worse roommate, Humphries said.

“So just love them. You can find something to love about all of them, and so there could always be worse,” he said.

—miranda.lorenc@gmail.com