Lease-signing season is in full swing, with May being right around when most students start to panic. The increase in cortisol might make you consider rushing to sign on with that person you were in a class with two quarters ago that you ‘vibed’ with – but this isn't a task you should treat as a check box on your Tuesday to-do list.
Having good roommates can make or break your time in college, but getting an ideal living situation together can be a lot more complex, and awkward, than anticipated. Asking the questions about who's going to clean what part of the house when, or whether or not you plan to throw parties before everyone moves in could save you a year of disagreements.
“You know the people that you're living with and interacting with every day can be big deciders in your living conditions, even outside of the place you're living,” said Mclean Bowers, a peer adviser for Western’s Off-Campus Living Office for the past two years.
The Off-Campus Living Office, attached to the Basic Needs Hub on the fourth floor of the Viking Union, offers educational resources and peer-advising for folks who are first-time renters, like help with reading through and understanding your lease and roommate speed-dating events. The goal is to offer preventative solutions to students before issues come up, which Bowers notes is what frequently brings people to the office.
“I think people oftentimes either don't really prioritize meeting and connecting with their roommates before signing a lease together, or have no other options,” Bowers said.
Whether it’s roommates being exclusionary, disorganized or just downright rude, it's hard to live with people you don’t feel respected by. A study published last spring reveals there's a lot more at stake than just getting to use your kitchen without passive-aggressive comments from your roommate.
“Belonging is both a core human need and widely considered a linchpin for success in college … which contributes to higher achievement, better health and well-being, greater persistence and retention, and, ultimately, improved life satisfaction and career success,” according to the 2024 study done by Educational Public Review.
This critical sense of belonging is frequently overlooked by universities, with student engagement offices being stretched thin by institutional bodies prioritizing resources most folks couldn’t be bothered with. Second-year student Ariel Castañeda felt that lack of inclusive community support, which led to a rough first year at Western.
“I would always just try and avoid being in the dorm,” Castañeda said. “Sometimes I would be gone from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. to avoid being there ‘cause it was just not a good environment. It was like I had nowhere.”
This lack of a home base makes managing the stress load of college, for some, a job and a social life tumultuous at best. Adding in roommate drama on top of it isn’t something you want to be budgeting into an already too-full calendar, something second-year student Jeremy Kent knows all too well.
“I moved out and I remember sitting there thinking like, ‘Man, do I even really want to be here?’” Kent said, reflecting on how discouraged he felt after unsuccessful attempts to resolve past roommate conflicts. “When you've got a difficult home life or living situation, it definitely impacts everything.”
It's a tough line to walk, amidst schoolwork and a housing market that is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Ultimately, you’ll thank yourself in the long run for choosing to have those awkward conversations before signing on the dotted line.
Adrian Rattray is a third-year news/editorial major and an opinions reporter for The Front this quarter. When they’re not writing for The Front, you can find them in the Fairhaven studio, bumping chairs at Mount Baker, or rock climbing. You can reach them at adrianrattray.thefront@gmail.com.
