The Story of Bob Continues: Bob’s Roomie Troubles

Bob is finally starting to settle into college. He took all of Lejon’s advice and is starting to feel more connected at school. To get connected, he joined the club soccer team and started tutoring local elementary students. These activities helped Bob make a ton of new friends. Bob is so glad that he put himself out there. His classes started too and he has been going to the writing center and using the tutoring that he receives through EOP.

The semester has flown by and Bob is starting to feel like a real college student! There is just one problem…Bob’s roommate ROB!!! Bob lives in a triple and he really likes one of his roommates, but Rob is really disrespectful. Rob makes it really hard to live in the same space. Rob doesn’t clean at all and doesn’t respect anyone’s stuff. He also stays up late and starts his homework at midnight. Bob has talked to Rob about it but he doesn’t seem to care. It has been 3 months and he doesn’t know what to do! Bob decides that it is time to call his trusted friend Lejon for some words of advice.

Here is what Lejon tells Bob about difficult roommate situations:

Lejon’s Golden Roomie Rule: Communicate Respectfully & Effectively
“Roommates can always be an issue. My house created rules and chores to abide by. Each housing unit has someone in charge of campus life. If we had a problem, we would first talk it out amongst each other and if nothing was settled or we didn’t see improvement, we spoke to our RA who supervised our housing unit. For the most part, just learn to talk it out and set rules and regulations with your roommate so no one is crossing any boundaries.”

Other Tips:

● Check in with your roommate as soon as possible to learn more about them. Try to learn about how/when your roomie likes to study, when they go to sleep and get up, and how they want to deal with cleaning your communal space. Then you can set up guidelines that you can agree on together.
● Check in with your roommate first if there is an issue. You may be surprised by how much better things get if you address them quickly and directly but in a NICE and RESPECTFUL manner.
● If problems persist, you can check in with your Resident Advisor for guidance and support. They might have other great suggestions or they can set up next steps if nothing is working.

Whatever you do try to stay calm and communicate your feelings in a positive way and if you ever feel unsafe ALWAYS consult with your RA for help.