Tips for Dealing with a Difficult Roommate

Everyone goes to college thinking that their roommate will be their best friend. I’m here to tell you that’s not always the case. If you and your roommate don’t get along, don’t stress out because you are not alone. My freshman roommate and I met on Facebook like a lot of other students at Penn State. I started looking for a roommate a little too late and ended up saying yes to the first person who asked to room with me. About a month into the school year I started to notice that our living styles didn’t exactly match, she was very messy, to the point where I couldn’t even see the floor on her side of the room. After a few more months, we started to get on each other’s nerves and several issues occurred. The best thing to do is discuss any problems that you might be having. I am not very good at confrontation and I would never want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so this was difficult for me, but after a lot of built up issues we finally confronted them. At this point, we were already past the point of solving our problems on our own. The next step would be to go to the RA. After talking with my roommate, I went and talked to the RA, but I was pretty sure that I wanted to move out. My RA was okay with this and gave me my options. The next day my roommate texted me that she was moving out, I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to move all my stuff. For the longest time I felt embarrassed that I had a roommate that moved out but eventually you realize that it’s not your fault or their fault, some people just aren’t meant to live together. I ended up getting a new roommate a few weeks later and we were much more compatible. Now I am living in an apartment with one of my best friends and I couldn’t imagine a better living situation. Although I had a rough start, everything always works out in the end.

By: Sarah Spengler (Mentor Team C)