Moving out of the childhood bedroom to live on-campus this year? Let us celebrate the end of parental nagging and the beginning of communal all-nighters during finals week and “interior decorating” via Target’s colorful and geometric dorm section, made especially for incoming freshmen like you. And don’t forget the best part: pillow talk with your new roommate/BFF/future-maid-of-honor-and-godmother-of-my-children. Because everyone always gets along perfectly with their new live-in “sister from another mister” and doesn’t end up sippin’ haterade all year like Sammi and JWoww did back in Miami, right?

Freshmen, don’t fear: use these tips to slap together a roommate contract. Not only are you living on your own for the first time, but you’ll be living with others girls from all different backgrounds, habits and comforts of home. Whining about how she hogs the shower or heavily debating who the hell really deserved that final rose last week could be the least of your worries. Plus, as a good friend, you’re just trying to protect her! Seriously, do it…just in case.

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Roommates – you never know who or what you will get. While some people live blissfully together, others get stuck in a sticky situation. So sticky in fact, the administration in my situation couldn’t even wrap their upper-hand around it to help.

After first moving into my freshman dorm room that August, I anxiously awaited the arrival of my roommate, Mary (name changed). Finally, she walked in — leaving me with nervousness instead of anticipation. As I started to string my Hello Kitty lights next to my decorated bulletin boards, she started hanging her Hell Boy posters up next to her crucified scarecrow homemade ceramic creation. We were polar opposites (in an e-mail over the summer, she described herself as “stoic” while I replied with “enthusiastic” about myself). But I figured, college is a new experience and I wanted to soak it all in, so I told myself that Mary and I would work out, even if our outside appearances seemed at different ends of the college student spectrum.

But then my belongings started disappearing, and my food somehow made its way into her very own mini-fridge (we had 2 refrigerators for our room because she refused to e-mail me back throughout the summer about who was bringing what – a sign I should have paid attention to back then), and this ultimately started the downward spiral. Despite signing a roommate contract earlier in the semester, she disregarded nearly every single rule and when I called her out on it, she had no response. In fact, she didn’t really say much about anything, making our communication null and void. Read More »