Roommate, best friends in one: SDSU offers stress-free search for friendships, community

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MCKENZIE BIERMAN

Freshmen animal science, pre-vet majors Tess Elliott and Alison Bronk decided to be roommates after meeting at freshman orientation. The two also decided over the summer to take the same classes.

Tayler Larsen, Lifestyles Reporter

Roommates can make or break the college experience.

No perfect formula exists for finding a good roommate, however, knowing what will make the search simpler is key to a stress-free experience. There are options are available to make the housing process for college students less hectic.

For many, friendships in high school continue into college. The process of roommate hunting and not knowing who to live with can be challenging. Having the reassurance of knowing and already having a connection with your future roommate can make the transition into freshman year go smoothly.

For freshman roommates Kasidy Tuedt, a music education major, and Faith Baumberger, a human biology major, having a friendship in high school prompted them to share a room in college.

“It works really well to room with someone similar to you — although people say not to,” Tuedt said. “You will do a lot of the same activities, you are interested in the same things and you have a similar schedule.”

Making the transition from friend to roommate isn’t always easy. Knowing one another doesn’t guarantee roommate compatibility, so discussing lifestyle habits is important before you make any commitments.

If a random roommate is the preferred route, helpful tools exist such as themed dorms called Living-Learning Communities (LLC) or Facebook groups where entire classes of students can communicate in an open forum.

According to sdstate.edu, LLC’s give students the opportunity to live with like-minded students.

Additionally, SDSU has Facebook groups for upcoming and returning students. These groups are separated by class years and provide the opportunity to meet and connect with people by describing living preferences and personality traits to find a potential roommate.

Finding a roommate can be unexpected — but sometimes it just seems to fall right into place.

Freshman animal science majors Tess Elliott and Allison Bronk decided to live with one another after hitting it off at orientation.

“We went into orientation not knowing each other at all and both didn’t have a roommate,” Bronk said.

Their friendship formed while signing up for the same classes and taking the time to talk to each other over the summer. Now that school is in session they frequently study, eat and go to the movies with one another.

Overall, majors and interests are important, but communication and compromise are what makes living with a roommate successful.

Sidney Lee, a community assistant, has an inside look at the rooming process and what brings positive or negative results in a pairing.

“People seem to not want to talk about their concerns or issues while living with a new person, so they stay quiet and that is when arguments arise from not talking about it immediately,” she said. “It really does not matter what major you have, it is about having a willingness to compromise.”