So, you’re going to college for the first time in a little over a month. There’s a lot of scary things that come with college. Harder classes, living on your own for the first time, becoming a small fish in a big pond just to name a few. One of the scariest parts, when I was going to university for the first time, was living in a tiny dorm room with a complete stranger. You have no idea what this person could be like. Maybe they snore or sleepwalk or are complete pigs and don’t clean up after themselves, or even worse, maybe they don’t take showers very often. So of course it’s the natural reaction to want to get to know your future roommate.
Even if you met your future roommate on your school’s incoming freshman Facebook page and you have their little bio for background knowledge, it’s still terrifying. Especially because no one is honest in those things. Everyone is trying so hard to be liked that they’ll say anything to get a dm from a potential roomie. They say things like “I take school seriously, but I love to go out!” “I like my room clean, but I’m not a clean freak” “I love to work out, but I’m always down for late night ice cream runs!” Everyone just goes right down the middle of the road to try to appeal to everyone.
Now that summer’s over halfway over, you’ve probably gotten your roommate assignment. And this weirdo from Illinois is going to be living three feet away from you in a few short weeks. How the heck are you supposed to get comfortable with this idea before school starts? Here are a few tips on getting to know your future roommate before move-in day!
Hey, there’s no shame in creeping on their social media! They’re one hundred percent doing the same thing to you. How could you resist googling their name the second you got the email with roommate assignments?! Make sure you check their Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and even their mom’s Facebook for the really juicy pictures. Don’t let them hide anything from you!
This is probably the scariest part of all. The initial contact. How do you introduce yourself to a stranger that is going to be living with you super freaking soon?? “Hi, my name is Mallory and I said that I work out every day in my bio, but I haven’t been to the gym in six months!” Probably not a good idea…
Just keep it simple by messaging them on Facebook (or whatever social media works best) and say something like “Hey! We’re going to be roommates next year! Here’s my number so we can get to know each other a little before school starts.” It’s important to just rip the band-aid off as soon as possible because the only thing more awkward than the first message to your future roommate is meeting them on move-in day.
Once you’ve made the first move, you can start to really get to know each other. It’s not super important to be best friends before you even meet in real life, but some friendly conversation in the meantime can’t hurt. Just get the basics out of the way like major, interests and hobbies. If simply conversing with your future roomie is too scary, talking to them about who’s bringing what is a necessity. You have to know who’s bringing the carpet, tv and printer or else you might end up with double of everything. At the very least, talk to your roommate about that!
If you really hit it off with your roommate over the phone and you live close enough it might be smart to meet in person before you move in! This definitely isn’t necessary, but if it’ll help calm your nerves to meet up and make sure you aren’t being catfished then, by all means, do it.
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