Handling Roommate Issues
By LaTrina A. Rogers, MS Ed.
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t’s exciting to move to campus and start college life, but first-year students are usually a bit anxious, too. One of the biggest unknowns: Will I get along with my roommate? I’ve worked in Residence Life for years and the one thing I know for certain is that whenever people live together in close quarters there will be moments of contention. College roommates can work through these moments as long as they’re open to discussing their issues. I remind students living in my residence hall that silence condones behavior. When a problem arises, they’re
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expected to handle it on their own through communication, conflict resolution, and problem solving. During these times, parents are likely to receive desperate, teary phone calls. It’s painful to hear from your students when they’re distressed and you may be tempted to jump in. Please don’t. I’ve seen parents get involved in roommate situations
and it never turns out well. Unless a student feels like they're in real danger, a parent’s role is to listen and ask about the steps they’ve taken in the situation. College is a great soft training ground for young adults to learn how to handle adversity. I’m going to share some insights to help you guide your new college student as they learn to share space in a residence hall.
Fall 2022
