The transition from high school to college may be more difficult for an only child. Here are some tips to help make that transition easier.
College is full of many firsts: first time living away from home, first time not having someone to remind you to do school work and for some, the first time having to share a room. Most only children — myself included — never had to share their space with others before coming to college.
Ohio University students are required to live in on-campus housing their first two years at OU and many housing options are available to students. Those options include single-person rooms, doubles, triples and quads. I personally opted for a triple.
Singles are an option but they can get lonely and tend to be incredibly small. You might want to try living with a roommate or two. Unless you are from Athens or a nearby town, chances are you are not going to know the majority of people on campus or where most things are located. Having a roommate who is also in the same boat is always a plus because they are feeling the same way you do.
Living in a triple or a quad increases the number of people you can get to know on campus and there is a greater chance someone will be free to grab dinner or study with you.
No matter how you found your roommate for this coming year — advanced roommate selection, a post in the unofficial OU class of 2020 Facebook page, or just randomly — you need to communicate with them. Text over the summer, get to know them if you don't think you are going to be able to get along and don't be afraid to switch rooms before you arrive in the fall. Not living in your dream dorm is a lot better than living with someone you can’t stand.
There are steps you can take to ensure there are minimal punches to roll with. Let your roommate (or roommates) know your pet peeves and get to know theirs. Doing this can eliminate a lot of tension.
If something your roommate does upsets you, leaving a passive aggressive sticky note or sending a text are things you should avoid doing. Talk about it in person. I know that some only children really don't know how to deal with confrontation in our living areas and it might be easier just to write it down or type it out — it’s not. It will only make things worse in the end.
Keeping your area of the room picked up is also an important thing. At home, no one other than your best friend is judging when they come over — whether it’s the pile of dirty clothes you haven’t bothered to take to the washer or the cup that never made it to the sink. When you are sharing a room with people you have to remember it is their space too. While you might not care about a mess they might and they might not want their guests to see it. You know who those dirty dishes those belong to, but other people don’t.
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All of this being said, keep your mind open. You have just spent the past 18 years around the same people, and us only children never had an annoying older or younger sibling that has tested our nerves. There is no such thing as the perfect roommate. There are great ones, but not perfect ones. No one is perfect, not even you. Everyone will do something that will get on your nerves at some point in the semester and you will do things that get on your roommate(s) nerves. You have to learn to roll with the punches. It will help you later on in both your personal and professional life.
@mikaelashburn
ma270814@ohio.edu
