Dorm Etiquette

Living in a dorm is tough.

Yes, you've heard that before, but I bet you haven't actually understood it until now; the knowledge has not been burned into your bones.

This is, of course, assuming that you have never met your roommate(s) before. If you have, lucky you! You're not sharing an extremely intimate space with a complete stranger! However, should you be unlucky enough to have never met your roommate before the moment of moving in, you're in for a treat.

You have no idea what kind of person your roommate is. You don't know if they drink, have loud parties until all hours of the night, invite a different member of the opposite sex into their bed every week, or just like to sit in a nice, quiet room and do nothing. So my first piece of advice to you would be to find out. Ask them: what kind of music do you like? Do you have a significant other? Will you be spending most of your time in or out of the room? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera ad infinitum.

Once you have some sort of feeling as to what this person is like, start laying down rules that you both can agree on. Compromise is key! Your rules/guidelines for happy coexistence might include what time the lights go off, inviting guests over, or anything else you feel must be regulated. Make very sure, especially if you are in a triple or quad, that everyone sharing the space is present when the RAs hand out those yellow roommate agreement sheets!

That's about all I have to say, but there is one more thing: be forgiving. Everything will go infintely smoother if you and your roommate forgive each others' faults, problems, and mistakes. Do this, and as long as you're both/all willing to communicate calmly and rationally, any problems you might have will be minimal.

Good luck!