Hey everyone,
First off I just want to say that I really like this board and I’m glad I found it.
Anyway, I just needed to vent about my roommates. We (3 of us) live in a studio dorm…which completely sucks because I have no privacy and it seems like I’m the only one who needs to study. Sometimes I just want to scream at both of them. I’ve went so far as to buy a privacy pop, which helps. But I wish they would just move out!
Thank you. Done. 
Well, you’re in the right forum, as long as you can keep your venting down to a dull roar. But what’s a privacy pop?
ETA: Facebook but it doesn’t look like it would do much for sound.
Most people have problems with their college roommates. It is supposed to be that way. However, be careful what you wish for. My college roommate and I picked each other during a college preview and lived together for two years. It was fine most of the time but living in a space that small for that long will wear on you. We moved elsewhere our junior year and didn’t really speak after that. I tried to look him up last year because time and distance heal all wounds but it turns out he died tragically in his early 30’s. I kind of miss him now.
Besides real family, college roommates are often some of the people that know you better than anyone during a unique time in life so you should make the best of it while you can. You may need them later after it doesn’t feel like you are stuck in a jail cell with them.
In my life, there was the one who would talk to me about vegetarianism and tofu–at least until she walked past a MickeyDees and decided to go in. Her German exchange student boyfriend was utterly terrified of me for some vague reason and then her brother moved in and almost blew up the kitchen sink.
I had another who had seizures after apparently smoking some bad weed. A short time later she disappeared suddenly after a nervous breakdown.
There was another guy who was an alcoholic and loved to meet people when he drank. He wouldn’t just meet people, he’d bring them home. Hijinks ensued, like the time the Aryan Nations guy passed out on the couch. Or the time I cooked a duck for dinner and Mr. Friendly drunk went out and told all the starving students in the hood about it. Suddenly several neighbors invited themselves over for dinner, then assured me I was a good cook. I don’t know because I only got two bites.
Good times, good times, college is a valuable learning experience.
Haha will do. Yea its like an enclosed area/tent…
Wow…I’m sorry to hear that. I will definitely keep that in mind, thanks.
I had that problem my first year in grad school - it seemed like my roommate never studied. I couldn’t understand it - I’d be at the dining room table with my books and she’d be in the living room watching some inane sitcom.
Turns out she didn’t study - at least not enough. Her grades weren’t enough to keep her partial scholarship and she lost it. I also lost my roommate when the scholarship was awarded to me.
I got a one person studio and loved it.
Don’t get me started about the loons I had as roommates the first time through college, with each new set worse than the last. The first two weren’t too bad-a geek and a too-tightly-wound Type A. They switched roomies with me when I refused to partake the illegal drugs they offered me. The new ones were a couple of naive Puerto Rico kids-one of them was terribly homesick and was constantly found sleepwalking out in the courtyard in the middle of the night.
The next semester I got a mountain man who was also on the crew (rowing team). When he wasn’t regaling me with his plans to ditch a corrupt and wasteful society and move out into the wilds, he would regularly jump me and wrestle me when I walked in the door. The worst (I told you) was the quiet guy with the moustache who listened to Jim Croce-and his flaming boyfriend who would constantly hit on me. At that point (I was on the verge of dropping out anyway because these were my Dark Times) I just said the hell with it, called my folks and went home.
oh, something like a newer version of the Get Smart Cone of Silence.
I read your post before re-reading your username and for a second thought it was KFC. Which would have been cool.
Like it or not it would probably be a good idea to find another place to study. Yes, you should be able to study in your own room, but the reality is that your roommates are just as entitled to view your communal living space as a place to hang out and unwind. Unless you can make your pop thing work (maybe invest in some noise-cancelling headphones) I’d look into the library, student lounge, coffee shop, or something like that.
Yeah I could never study in my shared dorm rooms, and doing homework there was dicey at best. Which sucks when you’re trying to code. I did have a laptop, but it was a pre-netbook-era heavy thing with a dodgy screen hinge. I ended up at the IT computer labs a lot for my IT classwork, and spent time at the library for reading.
It got a lot better when I moved to an apartment off-campus. I had my own bedroom in a 3-person apartment, and it was lovely. I can’t do communal sleeping anymore!
Wow, how does one almost blow up a kitchen sink? And yes, college is a learning experience to say the least.
My roommates for sophomore year (co-ed hippy school) were two female best friends since childhood.
One had just come out as a lesbian to the other right before they started college together.
I found out years later that the other one was gay as well but didn’t want to come out because she knew her friend would have wanted to start a relationship. She didn’t come out fully until after college but apparently carried on a secret relationship with one of their mutual friends.
Kinda sounds like a soap opera…how are things between everyone now?
Just go to the library. Back when I had college roommates (all friends, all of whom seemed to NEVER STUDY AT ALL), I spent about 3 months stewing about it. Then I just threw up my hands, realized they weren’t gonna change, and went to the library every time I needed to study. Even back in those days there were networked computers and (limited) wifi. It’s probably easier now.
Yea, I actually did try that. Its just that the library is clear across campus and I get a little nervous about walking around at night.
Check with campus security - you might be able to request an escort to and from the library.
My last time through college I had small kids at home. If you think dorm mates are bad for studying, try little kids wanting mommy. The library, and get a security escort back to the dorm My college dorm had a quiet study lounge. Or find a study buddy with a room mate whose boyfriend or girlfriend has a single.
Last I heard they were “friends” but didn’t really talk any more, but the one was finally out to the other.