| August 16–22, 2006, Number 407
ParentNET
One of the biggest worries that many college students have when going to college is about how to live with a complete stranger, otherwise known as a roommate. I am currently visiting a friend on the campus of Notre Dame, and we have seen many first-year students meeting their roommates for the first time this week! Although some students do choose mutual roommates ahead of time, roommate matching at Michigan Tech according to major of study and geographic location or interests is usually what will place your student with a roommate. For my first year of college I chose my best friend from high school to be my roommate. Many people told us it wasn't a good idea because it could test our friendship. This ended up being not true! It made us closer as friends, and also made us feel more comfortable transitioning to being a college student knowing we were there for each other. Although we both moved off campus, we are still rooomates to this very day! For my internship at Cummins this summer, which I successfully completed this past week, I found my two roommates at random. Cummins sent out a list of students who were seeking potential roommates. We all then stated our living preferences about gender, pets, smoking, and location. Two girls who had already decided to live together then asked me to live with them as well. I was very reluctant to move in with two people I wouldn't have a chance to meet before living with them. But, we contacted each other through email and talked by phone a few times, so I had a feeling it would all work out. And in my case, I reminded myself that it was only for the summer. Now that my internship is over, I am happy to say that things couldn't have worked out better! It turns out my two roommates and I had a lot more in common that we originally thought. We really enjoyed getting to know each other. However, one of the first days there, we laid out ground rules as far as what was expected of each other and how we would handle things from paying the bills to taking out the trash. If your student has not lived on their own yet, remind them to take care of defining these expectations with their roommates so responsibilities are set forth from the beginning.
My last recommendation to students and their roommates is to give it a chance. New friendships take awhile to grow, especially when you are forced to live with someone you may not know. Give people the benefit of the doubt. At least your student and their roommate(s) will have one common ground, and that is Michigan Tech. And Michigan Tech is a great place to start. Until next week,
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One fun thing that the RAs in the residence halls have you do, as a student living on campus, is sign living arrangement agreements. This means on the first night of staying in the residence halls, your student should take time to discuss daily routines, quiet times, bed times, and considerations for one another. This really helps get expectations out in the open early, so that your student isn't frustrated when their roommate's sleep schedule may be completely opposite from theirs. And do not fear, if your student's roommate situation absolutely will not work, new living arrangements will be made.