RoOmmAtE RuLEsSsSss**

Let's play a game shall we? Guess what I am. Ready?

"That's mine!" "I'm turning off the air conditioning whether you like it or not!" "Will you PLEASE shut up, I have to study!" "Turn that music down, it sucks!" "Clean up your desk. I'm embarrassed to bring friends up here because you're such a messy person!"

Yup, you guessed it--- a typical roommate.

So you know as well as I do that going to college means having a roommate at some point in you're college life, unless you've got the sweet "hook-ups" and the person you know in charge can get you a room by yourself. However, if you think about it, theres a very slim chance of that happening. So we'll just say that there is a 95% chance that you already have one or you will be living with one in the future.

First off, I am definitely NOT here to tell you that all roommates are going to be terrible. In fact, I've only had one roommate so far, and even though the journey definitely has not been a piece of cake, who am I to judge whether or not it will continue this way for the rest of my freshman year? I'm not. I'm a pretty positive person if I do say so myself, and I have a feeling things will get better, so you should feel that way too if you encounter "struggles" with your roommate. If you get along with your roommate ALL the time, that's great. I wish I could say the same.

Here are a few brief and helpful tips that deal with having a roommate:

1) Try to be positive about any conflicts that arise, I learned this the hard way. Not every conflict has to be negative. It depends on how you look at it and react to the situation

2) Ask to borrow things if you need to. Don't just take them. That's really annoying, and it will often upset the person you are borrowing from and this will lead to a some argument between the two of you.

3) Don't invade you're roommates privacy, and don't let your roommate's friends invade your privacy either. Make sure you and your roommate come to some sort of agreement about this. Talk these kinds of things out before a possible problem arises. I'll give you a perfect example. My roommate had a friend over while I was out, and she let her friend get on MY computer. THAT IS A NO-NO. My roommate could have let her friend borrow her computer, not mine. Don't let things like that occur unless you don't really care...

4) Don't let your roommate tell you what to do. If you like you're stuff a complete mess, don't let him/her talk you into cleaning it up because he or she is "embarrassed" to bring people to the room. Sometimes it's easier to find something when it's messy anyway because you know exactly where it is. If you like it messy, keep it that way, and if you ARE an organized person, don't get mad because your roommate isn't.

5) Try to make plans to go out and do things with your roommate. You'll get along much better if you become close friends, and things will be a lot more fun.

6) Respect each other. Don't have people in the room if your roommate has to study. From my own experience, I like being in my own special place when studying and doing homework. Yeah, I could go to a study lounge or to the library, but if the environment doesn't suit me, I won't be able to concentrate. So if you like studying in your room, make some sort of agreement with your roommate about having/not having people over while you are studying for something.

7) Don't allow your roommate to take over 90% of the room. NOT GOOD. You each deserve an equal amount. Otherwise, it's not fair and you'll have no room for your things, or your roommate won't have any room for his/her things.

8) DON'T KEEP THINGS BOTTLED UP INSIDE OF YOU!!!! If you are uneasy or mad about something your roommate has done or said, say something and talk it out. If you keep things to yourself, more problems will arise.

9) Don't complain about small and worthless things.

10) And in the whole scheme of things, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!