Living on campus offers a unique college experience for students, including coexisting with an assigned roommate for many. Whether your roommate is a stranger or a childhood friend, a healthy relationship is necessary to maintain pleasant living conditions. 

Resident Assistants, who are dedicated to mediating conflict among roommates throughout the semester, are able to provide invaluable insight for students struggling to get along with their roommate due to their own experiences.  

“Getting along with your roommate can be explained perfectly in one word: communication,” said junior marketing major and Livingston Hall RA Matthew Olivier. “If you’re not communicating and have an issue, there’s no way you can resolve it, so a lot of the time things get worse.”

Start off by introducing yourself to your roommate. Discuss your interests, hobbies and lifestyle so your roommate will get a feel for what kind of person they’re living with. 

“I believe that if you lay everything out on the table [you will get along with your roommate],” said current Livingston Hall RA Rebecca Mayeux. “For example, if you jam out to Beyoncé, you should let your roommate know. I think after the first week it’d be safe to have lunch and talk about each other’s quirky living habits.” 

Setting rules together early on will help to address potential areas of conflict. This sets expectations for acceptable behaviors as well as those that are not tolerated.   

“Talk about who likes to do what chores and how cold you want to keep your room,” said Southeastern graduate and past RA Brooke Adams. “Talk about your preferences and try to work out a middle ground for both of you.”

Getting to know your resident assistants is crucial. Should any conflict arise, RA’s should be consulted before the problem becomes overwhelming.

“Be nice to your RA, or an RA in the building, even if it’s just talking to them in the hallways. That way if you have issues with your roommate, you will feel comfortable going to them for help,” said Southeastern graduate and past RA Katherine DeVall. “It may be difficult to confront a roommate about something they do that is bothering you, but they may honestly not even know they are doing it unless you communicate with them. Most of the roommate conflicts I had to deal with were over them not communicating with each other, holding grudges and waiting too long to bring me in.”

Finally, remember you are sharing your dorm with another person, whose personality and habits are different from your own.

“The most important thing is to always remember that the room belongs to both people, and it’s not just your room and it isn’t just your roommate’s room,” said Sarah Stickley, Southeastern psychology graduate student and past RA. “Respect each other and your differences; accept that you will have different backgrounds, routines and habits. If both parties want to get along they will, but if one of you gives up on getting along with each other, you’ll have problems.”