One Month In...Surprise Roommate!

One month into your Point Park Experience you may be realizing that your roommate may not live up to the high expectations or standards that you originally had. For example, I only spoke with my roommate a few times prior to moving into school. I was glad to learn that the entrance survey placed me in a room with a girl that had the same major as myself. It is nice to have a study buddy right there if we ever need each others opinion or notes on an assignment. I did not expect to have so much in common with someone I did not hand pick to live with. We had a good start when I moved in a day after her. She was all settled in and helped me move all of my bags and boxes. From the beginning we got along and had a respect and understanding for each others privacy and personal space.

It's good to keep an open mind going into a college where you know you'll be rooming with other people. Don't slash down a roomate because they have a certain band playing when you walk into the room, and definetly don't make a judgement of how awful your life will be now. If you stay open minded you might find out things you have in common, and a relationship can build from that. You shouldn't have high exspectations of what will happen and of what your roomate will offer to help out with. Be sure to 'Lay Down the Rules' before you need them too, the first week of school would be best, that way when a problem comes up you won't be saying "I'd rather you not do this-" when it's already happening.

An example of some rules could be sharing the grocery list;

• Will you share food?



• Will you split the bill?



• How do you decide who buys what?

My roommate and I had a fair plan for sharing food right off the bat. We keep our food on seperate shelves, but we share whatever we have. For example, I buy a case of water and the next time we need water she will buy it or give me the money to go to Sam's Club and get water. It is only fair that we split costs for food and water that we both enjoy. We also keep a running grocery list. Whoever uses the last bit of salsa or last few potato chips will write it on the list, so neither of us comes home to an empty jar of salsa.