New freshmen could be seen lugging boxes of all shapes and sizes into dorms last weekend. But what wasn't visible to the watchful eyes of other students and faculty members was what happened inside the students' new homes--their dorms.
"My roommate is too dirty!"
"My roomie plays his music too loudly!"
"My new roommate sleeps naked!"
These are actual complaints Mike Shuster, a veteran resident adviser at Couch Center, says he has heard in his job.
But while some may say these problems stem from roommates not knowing each other well enough, Shuster warns against rooming with a best friend, just to keep life going smoothly.
"When you're best friends in high school, there are a lot of things you don't know about each other," Shuster said. "Stuff you see at sleep-overs may not bother you then, but now you deal with them every night."
Freshmen Carrie Watson and Laura Foshee have heard these and other arguments against best friends becoming roommates. But the two have decided to test their friendship, going strong since they were 4 years old, by living together anyway.
"Everyone said we'd hate each other by the first week," Watson said. "But if anything, it's better this way because we know when to give each other space."
Shuster describes two alternatives to rooming with a best friend. The first is to pair with someone you know, but not too well.
"My first roommate and I knew each other, but we weren't best friends, and things just worked out for us," he said.
There is always the option of taking your chances on a randomly selected roommate, too, Shuster said.
"Of course, you always run the risk of getting paired with a psycho, but things usually work out," Shuster said.
Whether roommates are best friends, eternal enemies or somewhere in between, Shuster offers advice for dealing with inevitable disputes.
"Ask politely for them to change what they are doing," he said. "They'll usually do what they can to comply."
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