How to Get to Know a College Roommate
Strategies to Learn More about a Dorm Room Partner
Jul 25, 2009
While college is filled with new experiences, the one that is most stressful is the roommate assignment. Many colleges attempt to pair up students according to similarities; however, the true match depends on the roommates’ ability to communicate with one another. This article will provide some strategies to open up the communication.
Exchanging Information With Roommate
Thanks to current technology, future roommates can use the internet and other electronic modes to communicate prior to college starting. Here are a few examples:
- Send emails and/or instant messaging to one another weekly. Fill one another in on day-to-day highlights, stressors of starting colleges, or whatever.
- Purchase some favorite tunes online and send to the other roommate. They can become familiar with styles and tastes of music prior to move-in.
- Use a computer camera to meet online.
- Add one another as “friends” to Facebook and/or MySpace accounts.
- Create a joint website. Make a list of what each will bring to the room, and a wish list of items still needed. Include pictures of fabrics, rugs, furniture, or other room decorations on the site so that each knows the direction of the design of the room.
- Add one another as a Friends and Family member to cellular phone plans and call/text weekly.
Understanding One Another’s Personality Type
In the realm of psychology, Myers-Briggs is the premiere assessment for personality typing. The assessment allows people to better understanding themselves according to four areas: where does their energy come from (introverts or extroverts), how they take in new information (sensing or perceiving), how they make decisions (thinking or feeling), and how they choose to live day to day (judging or perceiving). The assessment will provide the person with a four letter personality type.
Personality assessments allow people to obtain a better grasp of who they are, including their strengths and limitations. If roommates take the assessment and have an interpretation of the assessment, together they can review their similarities and differences. An example is if one roommate is an introvert and the other is an extrovert, then they need to realize that quiet time is important to the introvert and activity is important to the extrovert. A balance between the two needs to be accomplished. These assessments can be done online.
Spending Time With Roommates
In order to have a working roommate relationship, the roommates need to spend time together. Even if they do not have much in common, the living situation requires dorm mates to establish some sort of open communication.
While roommates may not be best friends, they must spend time together for a positive living environment. The best strategy is for the dorm mates to set aside quality time with one another. Here are some ideas for spending time together:
- Create scrapbooks. Scrapbooks are still a popular hobby, which is a perfect idea for roommates. Capturing the freshmen year of college through scrapbooking will provide a valuable memory saver. Roommates can collaborate on the beginning of the scrapbook by sharing moving in pictures, jotting down a memory in the other’s book, and including other items of interest. Set aside two hours every few weeks to work on the scrapbooks together.
- Have a movie night. Roommates can begin by listing their top ten favorite movies. They can use a service like Netflix to download movies instantly or have them sent through the mail. They can set aside one night a month and watch a movie together. Popcorn and other snacks can also make the time fun.
- Explore the college town together. Most students are timid to venture outside of campus on their own. Roommates can explore the town or city together. They can investigate the town or city on the internet, find an interesting place or site, and then travel together to the places which may include how to navigate mass transit.
- Designate a favorite place. When stress is overwhelming, or when roommates need to get out of the dorm for awhile, having a favorite, shared place to seek haven is great. This place can be the local Taco Bell, Sonic, or park.
- Share hobbies with one another.
Overall, the college roommate experience can be either positive or negative. To ensure a positive experience, dorm mates need to learn more about one another and spend quality time together. By taking the time to understand one another and by sharing experiences and time, they can ensure a positive first year room assignment.
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