College is a time of great events, life changing adventures, and new friendships. When heading to school, though, there’s a slim chance you’ll know your classmates, or even your roommates ahead of time. One of the biggest concerns we all have moving to college is if we’re going to connect with our roommate, or if they’re going to like any of the same things we do. As scary as it can seem at first, the best experiences come along with living with new people.

In my case, one of my suitemates reached out to me through Nazareth’s School’s App, which connected all the students from my class on a social media platform where we could ask questions and meet each other. I decided to take the chance and room with her after we talked for a bit. She also connected me with our other future suitemates. Although the School’s App worked well for me, meeting roommates this way isn’t your only option! Each year, Admissions sponsors events for NazBound students, where all of the admitted students can meet each other on campus and get a feel for what the upcoming year is going to be like. This is also another great way to make connections with students and find people you might want to room with. You can trade numbers or connect in the School’s App after and get to know your new found friends and decide if you want to room with them before housing selection.

If you can’t make it to a NazBound Day or don’t find anyone who jumps out as a good potential roommate, it’s totally alright! This is the case for a lot of other incoming freshmen, so there’s nothing to worry about, and if you don’t happen to connect with someone through School’s App either, you can have an amazing experience getting matched by Residential Life on campus. They will send you a survey to take and will use your answers to match you with another student. The random rooming option may sound a little frightening or risky, but Residential Life knows what they’re doing and a lot of students who choose this option do end up having successful, long term friendships with their roommates. 

Some of my best experiences while at Nazareth have been with my roommates. We’ve taken trips into the city to explore, had midnight paint parties, cooked Friendsgiving dinner, and spent hours laughing and watching Netflix together. We’ve spent the majority of the last year and a half together having the time of our lives. Although, just like in any friendship, we’ve hit bumps in the road. One of the biggest issues any roommate situation may encounter is a lack of communication. Often, it’s easy to get annoyed with seeing your roommate’s dirty clothes littering your side of the room, or maybe they have a bad habit of causing a racket getting ready for their 8AM class when you’re just trying to catch up on sleep. These issues may seem silly, but it occurs often when you live in a finite space with someone who may not be used to sharing a room at home. It’s easy to be passive-aggressive or not address the issue, but something small can build a wall between you and your roommate. For example, my roommate, who I love dearly, got frustrated with me when I often neglected to take out the trash or empty the garbage. Small things, right? Well, one day she snapped at me, and I was confused because I was unaware of the issues that were bugging her. By opening up communication and talking about it, we both learned about specific expectations we had for each other, and were able to clear up the frustration in a short manner. By having open communication with your roommates from when you first connect with them, you can create a healthy relationship that may last through your whole college career and beyond.

I’ll admit it, sometimes it’s hard to start an awkward conversation with your roommate, or maybe you just don’t want to cause a bigger problem. In most cases, if you are having a struggle with your roommate and aren’t talking about it, they probably don’t know there is an issue to begin with. Talking with your Resident Assistant may help you get a good start on what the best way to handle a sticky roommate situation, and if they can’t help, they can point you in the direction of someone who can. Living on campus and sharing a room with someone may seem like a scary thing, but it also leads to so many possibilities and friendships.