Right now it’s 11:21 pm. I should be sitting and working on an essay due Thursday for an Honors College Perspectives Class I’m taking called The American Landscape, but it’s so much easier to procrastinate by listening to music, checking Facebook,  and writing another blog post for this site.  Today students who’d bought season tickets this year were given the opportunity to order tickets to the Big XII Championship game in Arlington, TX.  I bought them and will have my ticket grouped with some of my friends, so I’m really glad that OU beat OSU so that we get to go! This week seems to be a very busy week for me and everyone I talk to. People are happy to have gone home for Thanksgiving break, myself included despite living only 30 or so minutes away! I have not gone home more than two times this semester for a long stay and a few days at home with family and friends was great.  Many people, myself included, are extremely glad to go home because it means having a room to themselves! After observing roommates living together for a few months with either people who at first were complete strangers or  close friends, I’ve heard many stories and even have some of my own.  Roommate woes, while annoying and stressful, provide some of the best and funniest things to talk about when discussing your freshman year of college.

Of course, many people have had excellent roommate experiences and I hope that when you come to OU, you do too! But here are a few funny anecdotes.

One friend of mine has the smelly roommate. He’s had difficulty coming up with a way to address the issue.  It’s slightly rude to buy someone deodorant.  Luckily, these guys (who both went potluck) get along completely fine otherwise.  My friend took a trip to Walmart to get a room deodorizer and that’s kind of fixed the problem.

Another person I know is battling a temperature war with her roommate.  She likes the room around 70 while her comrade prefers it at a more than comfortable 78. Whoever gets to the room first or leaves it receives all the power, although when they’re both in the room the one closest to the thermostat has control. Throughout the weeks I get texts saying things like “I am so tired of walking into my room and having it be 78 degrees!!!” or “My room is 78 degrees again!!!! Ahhh!!.”  I find it amusing because I don’t have the same temperature difficulties, although if I were to experience the same thing I’m closer to the thermostat in my room, so I’d be the roommate that has more control =p.

Some people complain about roommates who talk too much while others whine about roommates who talk too little. Other complaints range from sleeping habits, to snoring, bathroom cleanliness,  and even toilet paper consumption.

Don’t lie on your roommate pairing survey that you’ll take when filling out your application for housing. Be especially honest when it comes to your sleeping habits. One of my friends said that they put that they liked to go to sleep very late to make themselves seem cooler, but found herself annoyed by a roommate who consistently is awake until 3 or 4 in the morning.  I selected that I liked to go to sleep early and wake up early to make sure that I received a roommate who would cause no problems with my rest.

Advice I received from many people before coming to college was to not room with a friend…. and I can’t really say if this is good advice or not.  Many people who have stayed with friends have gotten along fine.  They know each other well enough that they work out any problems they might have because they have a pre-existing relationship that they care about maintaining.  In fact, they might be better suited to work out problems than people who have never known each other before and don’t care if they ruin any hope for future friendship by carrying out a semester long, passive aggressive temperature war.

I’m not sure how much advice I really offered, but I hope that you found this entertaining! Good luck with your future roommate(s)!