Although college can be an exhilarating experience, living with other people can be an unexpected downer.
Most college students have already begun attending classes, taking exams and accumulating primary sources for assigned research papers. By this time, most students have adjusted to living away from home and most have adjusted to eating dorm food. For the most part, most students are faring quite well socially and academically. Or at least that's what most moms and dads think. Personality conflict aside, the following issues are the sort of things that can turn a college dorm room into a war zone.
The Awful Truth
It's hard living with strangers. Truth is, it's really difficult enough trying to live with people that you care about and love, but living with a total stranger or two can be stressful and for some people, just plain awful. Before arriving at school, some soon-to-be roommates falsely answer questions that are designed to pair student strangers with similar habits who are "very clean" or "a neat freak" with others who have similar traits when in fact they are walking pig sties.
Then of course there are those treasured roommates who manage to leave food items or unmentionables strewn about the shared domicile for a week or more and are shocked to discover a colony of maggots joyfully slithering about or that that unimaginable stench polluting the shared air is due to their slovenly habits. And as the roommate leaves to empty the overflowing trash or to finally change the linen and wash a load of very dirty, smelly clothes - the "neat freak" is left to ponder what might be lurking under the detritus of their roommate's part of the shared residence.
Too Much Information
Maybe one of your new roommates turns out to be a sybarite and a free love, nudist advocate. Things that you never wanted to see are suddenly thrust into your living space and right before your eyes. Your living space is suddenly filled with naked strangers and some of those people are doing things that you would have preferred that they had kept strictly secret and private.
It only takes a few visits from your roommates nudist advocate boyfriend before you determine that you are living your worst nightmare and can't find a way to wake-up. Once your personal space devolves into an x-rated movie, you are forced to leave the place that was supposed to be "home" in order to seek sanctuary with friends in nearby dorms whose roommates don't mind someone bunking on their floor for a night or two.
To Party or Not To Party
After the first few weeks of college, every college student is able to identify the members of the party crowd. Serious students who end up being roommates with an avowed party animal find out quickly that the shared space is rarely used for studying. Studying in the shared dorm room becomes impossible because the space is always chocked full of revelers and the constant blare of rock and rap music. The library becomes a place of refuge and for a few students, a secondary dorm room.
Solutions and Remedies
Most colleges have student mentors or fellows, typically upper class men, to act as student advisers to act as mediators to solve the typical problems/conflicts that might arise in dorm life. Typically the problems range from loud music and parties to alcohol and drug overdoses. It is important for all students to understand that if their living situation becomes intolerable, then it is time to address the situation with the Office of Residential Life to request a transfer to another dorm or to request a transfer to a wellness floor.
Note: Most colleges provide "wellness floors and/or houses" for students who sign a contract and commit not to drink, use drugs or engage in wild parties. If problems exist with your roommate, try to calmly communicate the problems to your roommate before seeking outside mediation.
