Bad roommates
Roommates can make or break a college experience. Bad roommates can make your life a living hell. How do people get matched with bad roommates, and what do they do if it doesn’t work out?
Logan Gihring, a senior elementary education major had good roommates his first two years. They all got along, kept the place tidy and eventually became good friends. Junior year was a different story.
Gihring and his roommates lived in Hull apartments, and that year there was an extra room in their apartment, so they were matched with a random roommate.
The situation that set Gihring and the other roommates over the edge was when one of his roommates actually caught a sexually transmitted infection (STI) from this new roommate.
“He would use our towels to dry himself off,” Gihring said. “He used half of it and then left the dry half showing, so no one would think he used it.”
Gihring’s friend found out that this roommate had been using his towel and immediately went to the doctor and tested positive.
They sat down for a mediation with the residential assistants (RA), roommates and hall director. This meeting gives roommates a chance to sit down to discuss the problem and try to find a resolution. After seeing no change in his roommate’s habits after the mediation, Gihring and another one of his roommates eventually decided to move back into the freshmen dorms.
When conflicts like Gihring’s arise, students usually go to the hall director.
Lisa Donahue, hall director of the Hull complex, hears complaints on a monthly basis from residents living in her building.
“Our goal is to have them work through their issues because college can be seen as life with training wheels, and you can’t always get out of situations that easy,” Donahue said.
Although the goal is to resolve conflict, sometimes it is impossible. All cases have to require proof of something either illegal or unacceptable for the roommate to actually be removed from the room. Otherwise, Residence Life tries to set them up with the best option for the time being.
Carmen McDermott, psychology and theater major, experienced roommate conflicts that resulted in less than satisfactory results. She once had a roommate who would steal food if they left it in the kitchen and go into their rooms when they were gone if they left the doors unlocked.
McDermott and her other roommates confronted the roommate many times, and nothing ever changed. They went to residential assistants, hall directors and eventually the assistant of Residential life. Without evidence, Residential Life couldn’t do anything about it. So McDermott decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Eventually I just started putting her dishes in front of her door,” McDermott said.
Though there isn’t much you can do to solve your roommate issues, those who have been there share some advice:
1. Talk to them. Talking to them can bring awareness and hopefully change the way they are acting.
2. Talk to Residential Life and try to get some professionals to help.
3. Finally, confide in other people and make sure you never room with them again.
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