Maintaining a healthy relationship with your roommate is an ongoing challenge requiring both patience and respect. You and your roommate were most likely thrown together by "potluck" or perhaps you know each other very well (maybe too well). Whether you are the best of friends or if you would have never chosen each other as friends, you now must learn to get along as roommates.
Having a roommate can have many benefits-- a new friend or someone to hang out with. A roommate can also present many challenges including conflicts over:
A written contract would be a good idea to spell out ground rules for living arrangements. Rules on issues such as housecleaning duties, sharing items, alcohol/drugs, smoking, and overnight guests should all be written out and agreed upon by both roommates.
When discussing any issue with your roommate, be assertive. Being passive, suppressing your point of view, will only make you frustrated and cause you to resent your roommate. Eventually a small thing like borrowing a shirt will blow up into a huge argument. On the other hand, being aggressive, fighting for your rights while stepping on someone else's rights might solve the problem initially, but your roommate will end up harboring hard feelings and resenting you. Remember to be assertive in communication and to speak in a calm, friendly, and reasonable manner.
Living in close quarters with another person (even a person that you know and like) can be a sure-fire cause for conflict. The two of you are both under stress and neither of you have much personal space. These conditions can cause you to become irritated with each other very easily.
Here are some tips for getting along with your roommate:
If conflicts with your roommate become too intense, you may need to involve a third party such as an RA to help both of you resolve the conflict.
These guidelines should give you some assistance to avoid and overcome any roommate conflicts that you may have so that you are able to move onto bigger and better things about college life. Good luck!
This information was adapted, with permission, from Ball State University