How To Get Along With Your Roommate

Ok, now you're officially a college student, with a dorm room, a dorm shower, and a roommate, who appears to be pretty cool. But, inevitably, this small living space the size of a large broom closet called a dorm room will get even smaller, and you'll need to know a few things to keep either you or your roommate from losing it. Your roommate doesn't have to be your best friend, but as two college students just trying to get by, it's nice to at least remain friends.

The first thing to keep in mind when trying to make the best out of your dorm life is to maintain a clean room. Really, I know your momma preached this from the time you were a wee little tyke, but when sharing a living space with a roommate, this advice is priceless. Keep a clean room and you can begin to build a living trust with your roommate - this, as much as anything, can lead to a peaceful, rewarding college life. If you're in the habit of leaving your smelly socks hanging on the back of a chair, break the habit. If you don't break the habit, your roommate might break your college student neck. And you might be able to break their habit of wiping boogers on the nearest available surface.

The second snippet of dorm life advice would be the c-word - compromise. Though we all know how smart and cool you are, sharing a dorm room means somebody else has their own way of seeing the world, and you're part of their living space. So, learn to compromise. Learning to understand someone else's point of view is part of becoming an adult. You'll be surprised to see your level of living trust will increase dramatically with a bit of peaceful understanding.

The last meaningful nugget of counsel with regards to improving your college life is to learn to open up and be honest. Learning to talk to your roommate doesn't mean they have to be your best friend, but you should really figure out a way to communicate your ideas and thoughts to the person sharing your living space. If you hold your feelings in and let them build up, it will only lead to more problems down the road. So, come clean. Have a regular talk with your roommate - whether you're sharing a dorm room or a college apartment - and they'll respect your opinion much better than if you one day lose it and throw the leftover pizza box at their head. Compromise and communicate.

These three simple solutions, which all start with the letter "c" like cool - clean your room, compromise, and come clean - will lead you down the path of peace and tranquility. Isn't that what the college life is supposed to be about? Who wants to live in a situation where you're not happy coming home at the end of the day? Build up that living trust and your little dorm room, or whatever your living space is, will become much more hospitable - smelly socks and all. Now, about those boogers on the back of the dorm room door...