The move from your high school to your college is very stressful, but meeting your roommate is probably the most stressful part of the entire process. You want to make a good impression, but, at the same time, you hope they are a normal, friendly person with whom you can bond for the next months.
Lookup their name and phone number
One of the first things you will do when you find out your roommate’s name is looking them online. You can search the US Phone Book for your roommate’s number and then see what you can find out by searching their phone and name online. Most often, the social media accounts are going to show up first. You can use them to find out what type of music they like or what their hobbies are.
Make sure you don’t judge the person based on their social media accounts, as we all promote a different image online. Keep in mind that your new roommate is also going to look for your social media profiles, so change them to reflect the reality of who you really are.
Use the email
Meeting a stranger the day you are going to sleep in the same room with them is awkward, so you might want to connect with your roommate before moving in together. Send them a quick email, introducing yourself. You can tell them where are you from and what are the subjects of interest for you.
You can even call them
After sending an email, you can call your future roommate and have a chat on the most important issues. This will help you get to know each other before you move in together. You can’t expect to be best friends right away. Chatting and texting before moving in can help you get used to the other person and it will ease the entire process of living together.
Check out each other’s lifestyle
After the initial introduction, you want to know if your lifestyles are similar. If you are a morning person and your roommate is a night owl, things might become complicated. Other key topics are who is going to bring what appliances, what will be your boyfriend policy and if you like to listen to music while studying. A very important topic is how hot or cold you like the room to be. This can quickly turn into a fight, if you are not prepared to compromise.
Talking about these things before you move in together is going to help you compromise and find the middle solution for the main problems, before you have to live together.
Sharing a bedroom is not an easy thing and you will be stressed out. The pressure of the new environment and the school demands will take their toll, so expect to have a couple of tense discussions with your roommate after you start living together. This is normal. Just try to be yourself when you connect with your roommate, without exaggerating things. In time, you will find ways to cooperate and get along, even if you are completely different.