Talking Points<\/h2>\n
The following are key areas where conflict and tensions can arise in a room.\u00a0Consider how you feel about each of these areas and share that with your roommate. Just be aware that your roommate may not feel the same way\u2014compromise is key.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Belongings:<\/strong> Some items may be off limits while others are considered shared.\u00a0Make no assumptions and always ask first.<\/li>\n
- Sleeping and Study Habits:<\/strong> You may be able to sleep through a rock concert, but can your roommate?\u00a0Are you sure your roommate likes to study while listening to your music?\u00a0Talk to each other about schedules (day and night) and study preferences.<\/li>\n
- Guests:<\/strong> A great starting point for this conversation is the guest policy<\/a>.\u00a0Once you’ve got those guidelines down, talk with your roommate about guests and how often you’re both comfortable having them in the room.<\/li>\n
- Cleaning & Hygiene:<\/strong>\u00a0Keep your room neat and tidy.\u00a0 Practice good self care and bathing habits; body odor can become intolerable in a small space.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Creating a Roommate Agreement (Community Living Guide<\/a>)<\/h2>\n
The Community Living Guide<\/a> is a roommate agreement that helps develop common goals and guidelines for living together. Your Resident Assistant (RA) can work with you and your roommate to review your Community Living Guide<\/a> and answer any questions about the process.\u00a0Once you complete your Community Living Guide<\/a>, it will only be successful if you and your roommate adhere to the guidelines that you’ve set.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nTalk it Out<\/h2>\n
Even the best roommates disagree occasionally.\u00a0If an issue develops, here are some things to keep in mind:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Speak directly to your roommate right away, and never talk about your roommate or the issue behind their back.<\/li>\n
- Come to a solution where everyone feels comfortable with the outcome.<\/li>\n
- Respect differences and seek to reach common ground. Remember, everyone has different values, lifestyles, and expectations, but if you continue to work on building a respectful relationship, you will be more successful.<\/li>\n
- If you are unable to resolve your conflict, bring it to your RA’s attention.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A successful roommate relationship is one based on communication and compromise, and this holds true if you’re living with friends or strangers. We encourage everyone going into any roommate relationship (regardless of how much experience you have in sharing a room) to do some prep work before move-in. Share basic information about yourself, and be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3169,"featured_media":0,"parent":77,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8241,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/156\/revisions\/8241"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/reslife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Sleeping and Study Habits:<\/strong> You may be able to sleep through a rock concert, but can your roommate?\u00a0Are you sure your roommate likes to study while listening to your music?\u00a0Talk to each other about schedules (day and night) and study preferences.<\/li>\n