By Emily Osgood

Most of us have had to deal with a roommate (or two) at some point in our lives, but things can get complicated when you start bunking with a stranger. As freshman, college students are tossed into a breadbox (a.k.a. a dorm room) with someone they’ve never met before. Everyone on campus seems to have a complaint of some kind about his or her roommates, and the longer you’ve been at college, the weirder the stories become. There’s the loud, annoying, pukey, drunk, and stupid roommate. It gets even more complicated when they throw boyfriends, girlfriends ~ and sometimes both ~ into the mix. And whether you are sharing a bathroom with 3 or 30 other people, waking up to cereal, hair, and toothpaste in the drain is no fun. So what’s a bright eyed college student to do?

I have absolutely no idea. I bet that’s a bit of a letdown ~ sorry. Is it a good idea to keep your complaints bottled inside? No, of course not; that will always result in a shouting match and, most likely, tears. So then it’s better to be blunt? No, that’s no good either. Someone will undoubtedly take offense and run to other roommates to complain about what a pain you are, while you sit there and watch the entire group turn its collective back on you…not a great feeling.

What I have found to be the most effective are subtle hints. It’s like when you want your boyfriend to take you to that new expensive restaurant downtown; never tell him you want him to take you there. Instead, make him think it was his idea to treat you to a fancy night on the town! Want that trash taken out, the lights off before 2 am, or the toilet cleaned more than once a semester? Get creative! “There is so much hair in the shower drain the water was up to my ankles! It was so gross!” Then, casually turn the conversation to safe topics like that never-ending Psych paper, the monotone professor, or how you’ve just realized you’ve run out of mac and cheese. But if the annoying, creepy boyfriend is staying over every night, this is a good time to be blunt, gossipy roomies be damned. Nothing is worse than coming home after a long day of studying to find that your room smells of b.o. badly covered up by Old Spice!