Freshman roommate stories?

[Guest Katia]

From reading another thread, I got the idea that probably many of our kids that are freshman this year have probably had to deal with some interesting roommates. Any stories to tell?

 

I'll start. Two stories:

 

1) My dd is a freshman this year. When you enter her dorm room you see the most comical sight: dd's side of the room is neat. Bed is made with coordinating spread, pillows, etc., desk is clean and everything is aligned and at proper angles, clothing is hung in her closet by type and color...you get the picture! She is pretty OCD when it comes to organization.

 

Roomy's side of the room looks like a tornado that hit a garage sale. Other kids in the dorm have invited their friends over to see this dorm room as it is SO comical in appearance. Even when kids have their parents or other relatives come to visit them at the college, they always ask my dd if they can bring them to see her dorm room. It is a campus spectacle because of it's marked difference!

 

2) And then their was the time dd was called in to talk with the RA's about her roommate......and she had no idea what they were talking *about*! Ok, for this to make sense I have to tell you that first of all, my dd does not drink coffee. She hates it and she hates the smell. Roomy loves coffee and cannot live without it, so she brought her own very nice, expensive coffee maker to brew her fresh ground coffee each morning. Also, my dd has never been around alcoholic beverages of any kind. She's never seen, smelled or tasted them. OK:

 

Dd's roommate had made her coffee maker into a STILL and was BREWING WHISKEY in their dorm room using her horse feed! And, dd had NO idea! She simply thought that was the nastiest smelling coffee ever, LOL!! The RA's were wondering why she hadn't reported it sooner....and were stunned to find out she didn't even know. Come to find out roomy didn't ever drink the stuff, she is just a real, honest-to-goodness genius and was bored so converted the coffee pot into a still for something to do. A lot of the school faculty came to check it out and were quite amazed by what she had done to it, apparently.

 

Anyhow, these differences don't seem to bother either one of the girls; they are really good roommates and have had a great year together. What experiences with roommates have your freshman had?

[Miss Marple]

What a great idea! It will be fun to read all the experiences. Here's my son's experience:

 

After the university matched the boys as roommates, they exchanged e-mail addys and phone numbers. My son and the other boy e-mailed a bit back and forth mainly focusing on biographical stuff. It was interesting to note that the roommate was an only child...hmmm...that should have clued us in for what has followed. My ds is the oldest of 4 boys and cannot imagine life without having pesky younger siblings.

 

Fast forward to the day I help ds move into the dorm. They had decided to order a dorm fridge/microwave unit. This unit is the only acceptable appliance that can be put in the rooms (other than a computer). So we arrived at the dorm and the roommate, a member of the band, had already moved in. The arrangement of the room is basically a mirror image with the door being the dividing line. So the wall facing the door has two double door closets on it separated by a small 18 inch wall. This wall has a little drawer thingy attached to it. Obviously there was NO place to put this fridge unit except in front of one of the closets.

 

So the fridge was set in front of my ds's closet. And a nice little sticky note was attached to ds's desk which read: Dear ____, Sorry about where the fridge is, but I couldn't find anywhere else to put it.

 

Anyways, with a little ingenuity on the part of ds, the little drawer thingy was taken off the wall and the fridge set there. Well, through it all, they have become great friends and are looking to room together again next year. All in all we feel like we hit the "roommate jackpot".

[Anne]

We don't have any funny roommate stories - just success stories. My older dd still counts her freshman year roomates as good friends, six years later. My younger dd has had the same roommate for two years and is planning on rooming with her again next year.

 

So - there is hope!! :)

 

Anne

[Paz]

Ds decided to room in a suite with 6 other guys. I recommended against it but he didn't listen. He loved it but it was distracting for him because he had early classes and no one ever slept until at least 3 a.m. Thank goodness he can sleep through anything. He and his roommates were total opposites. I am embarassed to say that ds is a slob. I have tried and do not take responsibility. I feel sorry for his future wife. Anyway, he would often come home from class to see that him roommate would have cleaned up ds's side of the room, made his bed, and put his clothes away. He and him roommate had little in common but became great friends. Ds came home for school this semester but is transferring to a state school in fall and is rooming in an apartment with 2 of his best friends from high school. They are all laid back and not so neat so I am afraid the mothers may be taking trips to visit and clean every so often.

[Gwen in VA]

Ds1 is in a single this year, so no interesting roommate stories there! (About 40% of freshmen are in singles at this college.)

 

Dd1 had a doozy. The girl had tons of money, shopped non-stop at Pappagallo's, and radiated rich slick chick. The girl did live within the roommate agreement and never had a boy over, but dd1 heard LOTS of nasty stories on the phone -- if you are trying to go to sleep, you can't just leave the room when your roommate is having a heart-to-heart with a friend! Her favorite phrase was "dumb life decision," and she seemed to put herself into all kinds of situations that justified the phrase.

 

The girl didn't like the inconvenience of carrying the room key with her, so she wanted the room kept unlocked. Due to a break-in in another dorm in the middle of the night, dd1 locked the room when she went to sleep. So at 2 or 3 A.M. the roommate would stand out in the hall, bang on the door, and then call dd1's cell phone to wake dd1 so she could unlock the door for the girl!!!!!

 

Thankfully the roommate moved out over Christmas so dd1 had a single for the rest of the semester.

 

She has a wonderful roommate this year, a real gem, and they are going to room together next year! :)

[Osmosis Mom]

Not sure that I have a funny. Dd is basically walking around like a zombie due to lack of sleep.

 

First room-mate situation lasted less than 2 months. Got Ms. Sloppy and Cranky. Dd was being introduced to the sewer-vocabulary from day 1 (when roomie felt like it). Few misunderstandings, lots of rudeness. Roomie calls in RA to have a case against dd (forgot what her case was), turns out the case got turned around right in her face as dd was the one being attacked (it was actually a hilarious incident). Facebook photos was evidence of roomie's transgressions and lies.

 

Girls finally decided to switch with another room so the two bff messies could room together (and live to regret it, LOL, as even their own mess got to be too much for them!!). Dd ends up with a real case of OCD and bipolar girl. Lots of empty promises. The first time I went to the room (next door to the disaster zone with romie #1) I almost fainted. Room was spotless and roomie's desk was symmetrically decorated (without any study-materials). I have never seen such obsessiveness. Girl was full of empty promises in order to get rid of the first roomie; dd has turned into her freelance therapist. Roomies is constantly after dd to get her to sleep out so roomie can have her boy over to sleep *next* to eachother bla. bla. Dd can only sleep out so many times without bothering her own friends' in their tiny rooms!! Geez.

 

Overall then I feel the roommate situation has been stressful. However, my sister who is at a college here this spring as an exchange student got a tiny room with a really, really messy freshman (sister is 24 and used to cleanliness). Sister freaked after a month and went to talk to the office since she knew about another foreign student who was leaving so perhaps she could get a bed in her triple. Well, she ended up moving two days later into the triple that got VACATED and she now has a mini-suite all to ehrself with view of Boston. Just for the asking. Who knows why their office couldn't have put her in that room to being with? So if she hadn't asked she never would have known!!!!!

[Janet in WA]

I don't remember much about oldest ds's roomates, so I'll just tell a little about the younger two's experiences:

 

Ds #2 is an Aspie. He ended up with an Aspie roommate. Can we say "volcano"? They couldn't stand each other. They each blamed the other. Oh boy. Fortunately, my son managed to move into an apartment the next year with friends with whom he got along much better.

 

Ds #3's freshman roommate was a long-time friend from church. They were very different. For example, my ds is very gregarious and wanted the room door open 24/7, while his roommate was more introverted and wanted the door closed. They compromised on that one, with my son getting his way most of the time. Also, my son was mildly exasperated that his roommate didn't make his bed. So my son cheerfully started making both their beds every day. Both were very easy going, and laughed off their differences. They each moved on to different colleges after their freshman year, but remain close friends to this day.

[Tree House Academy]

I can tell stories from when *I* was a freshman. They put me in a dorm room with NO WINDOWS with a girl who was my exact polar opposite. And she smelled. I had my mom come to the school and tell them my grandmother was ill and I had to return home to help care for her (my grandmother had been dead for 3 years by that time). About a week later, the fire department came in and made the school move all of the people out of the dorms without windows. It was a fire hazard! Go figure! If I had waited that week, I would have gotten a new roommate and everything. Blah! I never did go back to living on campus. I moved in with a guy friend, then got pregnant, got married (yep...in that order), and the rest is history...

[Blue Hen]

I too only have stories from my college days. Thankfully a high school friend asked me to room with her at college but since the rooms were 4 to a room suite the other 2 really played havoc in our lives. We studied, they did not. They stayed out all night with guys and came home to talk about it. What an education we got! We were quite happy when the two moved out to live with their boyfriends or so we thought. The 2 girls who moved in were big time drug users and the dorm administrators would not do anything about it. I knew nothing about drug deals and use but sure did afterwards. Amazingly my grades skyrocketed that quarter since I spent so much time at the library, anywhere but in my room.

 

I pray that my boys have better luck than I with roommates their first year.

 

Carole

[ChrisN in NY]

Ds is in a 2-year Dairy Production program at a SUNY (State University of NY) school. We're from the country; ds's roommate was from the city.

 

Ds had to get up at 3 AM and help with barn duty periodically during first semester, as part of one of his courses. Roomie would still be up, cause he'd just gotten in from a party.

 

Roomie's friends would often come in late, drunk, and sit on ds's bed... while ds was sleeping in it!... at midnight, 1AM, 2AM....

 

Roomie has since been removed from dorm, after UPD (University police, who are NYS troopers) had him kicked out of the dorms, for having alcohol.

 

Ds has the room to himself for awhile, and was being asked to either fork over more bucks to keep the single room for the rest of the semester or move to another room and double back up. He's dragging his feet on moving, can't say I blame him.

[mcconnellboys]

That's hilarious!

 

Some schools tell you that you can fill out a questionaire about your degree of neatness, smoking, bed-time habits, etc., etc. so that you won't get a roommate who is so opposite your style. But if your daughter had done this, think what both of them would have missed out on, LOL! Opposites can be fine together, obviously....

[Puma Mom]

Ds got a horrible first roommate. The main issue (although ds was not crazy about the foul language and general nastiness of the guy) was that roomie had his buddies over playing video games--LOUD--until the wee hours. Finally ds talked to the RA who got the boys to compromise, saying that everyone had to clear out by 3 am. THAT was the compromise! But ds dealt with that part fine. However, roomie was really annoyed with the 3 am rule and was completely obnoxious and verbally abusive to ds after that. Ds is a probable Aspie and dealt with it mainly by avoiding his room.

 

We encouraged him to change rooms, but he drug his feet about it. He wanted to but hated giving roomie what he wanted. Finally, I called and talked to Housing, found out they already had a file on the room, and found out that he could change easily at 2nd semester which ds finally wanted to do. His new roomie is nice and reasonable. And he has a great roommate for next year already.

[Laura K (NC)]

In the first week of school he had to drive his roommate to the ER. He had been drinking. The first week! The roommate quit before the semester was over. This boy's setup is that his dorm rooms are arranged in suites. Apparently his suite-mates didn't care for locking doors. He had his laptop stolen in the first semester.

 

This semester is going more smoothly. It could hardly have gotten worse.

[cathmom]

My son had two roommates last fall and now a new one while studying abroad in Poland.

 

He got along OK with roommate #1 until his roommate put up a pretty graphic poster of David Beckham, thus revealing a different orientation, which made my son uncomfortable. I encouraged him to wait it out since he knew he was studying abroad the next semester and it was only a few weeks until the end of the fall semester. However, he decided to move in with #2.

 

#2 is an upperclassman who doesn't care about school or studying and has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He played video games constantly and thought nothing of inviting people over to the room to watch movies at 2 AM. Ds was not amused.

 

His new roommate in Poland is from Turkey and they seemed to get along OK at first. But now my son is complaining again. Basically, I think he is very used to having his own room. The last 3 years he was at home, his now 5yo brother shared his room, but that is not the same. He could do whatever he wanted to the room and his brother basically just slept there.

 

He is now hoping for a single room somewhere.

 

Wondering how he will manage being married someday...:lol:

[Ria]

My daughter's freshman roommate found out she was pregnant during the 4th week of class. It was a nightmare. She was constantly sick, was horrid to dd because she felt lousy, and made my daughter's first semester a total living hell. She left school at Christmas and did not return, thank goodness. Dd got to keep the room. This year she has a very sweet roommate (from her freshman hall) and they plan to room together again next year.

 

My son's freshman roommate is a sweetheart (he sent me a text a few days ago that said, "Happy Birthday, Mama N!"). The boys really hit if off and are still very close friends. This year they are not rooming together but are in the same 4-person suite. Next year they plan to room together again.

 

Ria

[scrapbookbuzz]

My freshman year of college (awhile ago), my roomate-to-be and I sent letters to each other on the same day! And I discovered that we were going for the same Major. Sounds like a good match, right? Not really. I tried to 'hang out' with her and some others on the weekends. I did a couple of times but then started sensing/seeing that I wasn't really welcome. And, she and I were like those opposite roomies mentioned earlier; she was the neat freak and I was not (still am not). And our friends would always comment on our room. In fact, one day, she and her friends cleaned MY SIDE of the room! I was thrilled! Really, I was. I love when people do stuff for me that needs to be done and I just don't want to do. But, as with everything, if you've never been properly trained to do something, you probably really don't know HOW to do it and stuff goes back to the way it was.

 

I think the time I most enjoyed my dorm room was when I had it all to myself!

[Mommyfaithe]

DD is the oldest of 7 and has always shared a room...sometimes with several siblings, so she was very used to sharing and compromising especially since she is a neat child and dd # 2 is ummm....messy...

 

Her first semester roommate comes in, only child...wealthy parents paying for her full tuition (dd was on an academic scholarship and extremely serious about her school work. )

 

So...Princess Brat comes in...sets up her stuff and takes up most of the 2x4 room. DD was in shock! THEN when dd came home for the weekend after her first week of being away from home ever...she came back and the Pricess had re-arranged the room...had thrown all dd's things onto her bed and pushed her bed alost out of the door...ugh!!! This girl was up making pop corn at 2 am, and then had the nerve to invite her boyfriend to stay over.

 

SO...I gave dd a bit of advice. I told her next time Princess started making out with her boyfriend, she should pop some pop corn:lurk5:, grab some chairs and invite a few girlfriends over to watch the show. So dd did :lol:

 

Worked like a charm. Princess mostly stayed with her boyfriend for most of that semester. The following semester Princess and a Loveley, lovely Japanese girl whom my dd became friends with decided to swap room mates (Emi's room mate was a bit on the wild side ,)....DD and Emi stayed friends throughout the rest of their school and Emi was a bridesmaid at DD's wedding.

 

Princess is doing well too, but she made sure to tell anyone who would listen what a b*tch my dd was..... UGH!!!

 

You know ...through it all, I think it was a good exercise for my daughter to learn how to deal with spoiled brats, and how to make her point without being totally confrontational..lol. I think she learned that some people are just difficult to live with, but we still have to make the best of the situation we are in. People lessons etc.

 

Now dd# 2 will be off to dorm life next semester...and I think I may be feeling sorry for her room mate to be...as she is not the easiest one to live with...sigh.....

Faithe

[ereks mom]

The college sent each student contact info for his roommate, so ER & his roommate JL, both music majors, e-mailed and sent text messages about who was going to bring what (tv, refrigerator, stereo, etc.). It seemed like a good match, although they didn't actually meet face to face until move-in day the weekend before fall semester classes started.

 

When we arrived with ER & all of his stuff, JL and his family were already there. The first thing we noticed about JL was that he was BIG. Imagine: ER, 5'10" & 110 lbs., and JL, 6'4" & 350 lbs.

 

The next thing I noticed, after we helped ER move his luggage and boxes of stuff into his room was that JL was just sitting there while his mom, grandmother, and aunt sanitized the dorm room AND the bathroom (ER was in a 4-room suite, 2 guys per room, with a shared bathroom -- multiple toilets, sinks & showers).

 

Then, with JL still just sitting around, the women unpacked all of his things. They made his bed, hung up his towels, folded and put away all of his clothes, set up his study area (books, computer, etc.) and arranged the rest of his things in the room. Meanwhile, JL did NOTHING. As for ER, I did help him make up his bed, but we left so he could arrange his own room the way he wanted it.

 

ER & JL did get along well for a few weeks, but soon, JL was staying out late, skipping classes, and making failing grades. He would come in at 1:00 or 2:00, or even 5:00 AM, making all sorts of noise, and would TURN ON THE OVERHEAD LIGHTS! He could sleep through ANYTHING, so I guess he thought everyone else could too. He expected ER to wake him up each morning – I guess that’s what his mom had always done – and he became angry when ER told him that wasn’t his job!

 

JL sporadically attended some classes, and some he didn't attend at all. His GPA for fall semester was something like 1.3, ER says. That pattern of not attending classes continued throughout spring semester too -- NOT a good thing for a kid at college on a FULL (music) SCHOLARSHIP!

 

In October, JL had his driver’s license revoked because of a speeding ticket (he didn’t appear in court as ordered). Of course, he expected ER to drive him wherever he needed to go. At first, ER would take him places, but JL never offered to help pay for gas (this was in the fall when gas was nearly $5 per gallon). Then JL started wanting ER to take him to another town 30 minutes away so he could visit his girlfriend. ER did take him once, but when he later refused, JL pretty much stopped speaking to him from then on. ER would try to talk to him, but JL would barely speak at all. It got so bad that when ER would see JL across campus and wave to him, JL would look the other way and pretend he hadn’t noticed.

 

After fall semester, both ER & JL applied for a roommate change, and were initially approved, but there was some kind of paperwork snafu, so they had to stay where they were for spring semester too. Again, they barely spoke to one another.

 

Mid-way through spring semester, JL got his driver’s license back. He skipped out of town just before finals started, traveling out of state to pursue a job as a musician in a gospel music band.

Edited May 9, 2009 by ereks mom

[Miss Marple]

LOL! What a guy! Maybe the "gospel" will rub off on him a bit :-). Hopefully someone will mentor that poor fella.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

One of the problems with few women is that there are few alternatives if there are problems. For example, when the other room of sophmore women got into a fight (over boyfriend visitation), I was informed by my roommate that I was moving out because one of the other girls was moving into my spot in my room. She gave me an afternoon to get my stuff together or she was going to pack it up. (She threw hammer and weight for track and power lifted and I didn't plan on ticking her off.)

 

Fortunately the other woman and I got along pretty well. We were in each other's weddings and are still friendly.

 

There were other women when I was there that got into such fights with the women in their companies (over men in the room or drinking) that they ended up rooming with a woman on battalion staff out of company area because the women in their company all said no way.

[ereks mom]

The sad thing is that he is a very gifted musician, but not a good student. And, unfortunately, a big baby. ;)

[luv2quilt]

We were so nervous about our dd's roommate. She didn't know anyone to room with, so we knew it would be potluck. We prayed about it a lot, and God answered our prayers. My daughter met another homeschooled girl 2 weeks before classes, and they decided to be roommates. My hubby and I had our doubts whether this would work or not. But it has turned out to be such a blessing. They have loved each other so much. They had similar study habits, sleep patterns, interests. It worked out so well thanks to God. They want to remain roommates the entire time they are in college.

[jubileex5]

This was my son's first year on campus and at first thought his roommate was great - until the roommate got arrested in the dorm room for some things he (the roommate) had done on the internet. He was arrested and thrown in jail the week before finals. After all of that drama, we were very glad to get my son home for the summer. He won't be having the same roommate next year obviously.

[sarahli]

My freshman roommate caught lice and decided to cut her hair in the bathroom, over my things and the floor, and not clean it up. There was hair everywhere. Thankfully I was extremely careful and didn't catch it.

[ereks mom]

Oh, wow! That's even worse than ER's roommate story!

[Kareni]

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Edited June 6, 2009 by Kareni