Hello everyone!
Because I'm still at home, and will be for the next few weeks, I thought I would focus my next few blog posts on specific aspects of college that you may be wondering about. This week: roommates!
If you're stressed about what your roommate situation will be like when you get here, don't worry about it. It was definitely something I worried about before I came to college, and I know a lot of people did, too. It is scary. You're likely going to be living with someone you don't know for 8 months, which is intimidating. What if you don't get along? What if they are much messier than you, or too clean? What if they like to stay up late and you have to get to bed early because you have an early practice the next day?
Well, readers, I'm here to tell you that it will all be okay! The campus living department does a very good job of matching you with a roommate that you will mesh well with, and if you have any problems, the RAs are very well trained and can help you out. Even if you eventually feel like you have to move to another room, the RAs and the AD (area director- kind of the head of the dorm complex) will help you.
Before you move in your first year, you get sent a form to fill out that will help the ADs select your roommate. The form asks you logistical things, like when you go to bed, and if you like to study with music, as well as personality things, like what music you like. They use all of this information to find you a roommate they think you'll get along with and who you can live with peacefully. You also list what dorms you are interested in living in. I'm less in touch now with what the living/learning communities are, since they've changed since I lived on campus, but there are a handful of dorms with various themes where you live with people who are interested in similar things to you. I highly recommend trying to live in one of these dorms- I lived in Akin, the multicultural dorm, my freshman year, and it was great. I made a lot of close friends through that experience.
You can also verify that you are okay living with someone who identifies as LGBTQ, and if you feel like it's the right choice for you, you can request gender neutral housing, where your roommate is a gender that you feel comfortable living with. All dorms have gender neutral bathrooms, which is great, and if you are used to or prefer single-sex bathrooms, those are available as well.
My first year, I lived with a wonderful girl in a double. We got along pretty well, and got into kind of a rhythm of how to live together. We lived in Akin.
My second year, I lived with three friends in a quad in Manzanita (or Manzi), which is part of the Forest complex. At the time, the dorm wasn't themed (I think it is now). This was really fun. The room didn't feel too cramped, and we all managed to give each other space.
You only are required to live on campus for your first two years, so this year I moved to a house down the road ("on the hill") with my roommates from last year, and two other girls. It's a really great house and I miss it a lot.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions about roommates or housing, or LC in general! My email is rekidder@lclark.edu.
-Rebecca
Because I'm still at home, and will be for the next few weeks, I thought I would focus my next few blog posts on specific aspects of college that you may be wondering about. This week: roommates!
If you're stressed about what your roommate situation will be like when you get here, don't worry about it. It was definitely something I worried about before I came to college, and I know a lot of people did, too. It is scary. You're likely going to be living with someone you don't know for 8 months, which is intimidating. What if you don't get along? What if they are much messier than you, or too clean? What if they like to stay up late and you have to get to bed early because you have an early practice the next day?
Well, readers, I'm here to tell you that it will all be okay! The campus living department does a very good job of matching you with a roommate that you will mesh well with, and if you have any problems, the RAs are very well trained and can help you out. Even if you eventually feel like you have to move to another room, the RAs and the AD (area director- kind of the head of the dorm complex) will help you.
Before you move in your first year, you get sent a form to fill out that will help the ADs select your roommate. The form asks you logistical things, like when you go to bed, and if you like to study with music, as well as personality things, like what music you like. They use all of this information to find you a roommate they think you'll get along with and who you can live with peacefully. You also list what dorms you are interested in living in. I'm less in touch now with what the living/learning communities are, since they've changed since I lived on campus, but there are a handful of dorms with various themes where you live with people who are interested in similar things to you. I highly recommend trying to live in one of these dorms- I lived in Akin, the multicultural dorm, my freshman year, and it was great. I made a lot of close friends through that experience.
You can also verify that you are okay living with someone who identifies as LGBTQ, and if you feel like it's the right choice for you, you can request gender neutral housing, where your roommate is a gender that you feel comfortable living with. All dorms have gender neutral bathrooms, which is great, and if you are used to or prefer single-sex bathrooms, those are available as well.
My first year, I lived with a wonderful girl in a double. We got along pretty well, and got into kind of a rhythm of how to live together. We lived in Akin.
My second year, I lived with three friends in a quad in Manzanita (or Manzi), which is part of the Forest complex. At the time, the dorm wasn't themed (I think it is now). This was really fun. The room didn't feel too cramped, and we all managed to give each other space.
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| my sophomore year roommates- me, Emma, Tess, and Annabel |
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| my housemates from this year, and our house- from faces, left to right: Tess, Emma, Sam, me, Annabel, and Hannah |
-Rebecca