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| SCOTT GULLEDGE / Scroll |
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| Brock Camper, a freshman from Clearfield, Utah, and his stepfather, Gordon Hall, move stuff into Camper’s apartment at Breckenridge. Helping your roommates move in can also improve relationships in the apartment. |
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Cars are packed to near overflowing. Duffle bags cover the floor. The anticipation of living with strangers for the next four months nags at the very soul of new freshmen. It is time for a new semester.
For some students, getting to know new roommates is a nightmare. For others, the transition runs smoothly.
Chase Clark, a freshman from Burley, Idaho, and Kent Swartzberg, a freshman from Vancouver, British Columbia, met each other last September when they moved into their apartment.
What did they do to get to know each other? “Halo!” the friends said in unison. Spending time together brought them closer. Another thing that helped Swartzberg and Clark was Home Evening.
As winter semester begins, two new roommates are moving in with these friends. The only thing Clark expects is that they obey the Honor Code.
The hardest thing about last semester was telling the others when they were wrong, Swartzberg said. Usually they got along great.
Breanna Burke, a freshman from Bend, Ore., had no trouble making friends with her roommates when they moved in last September. Burke said there were a few things that eased the process.
“Talking together right at the beginning was a big deal,” Burke said.
After a few months of those late night talks, Burke and her roommates dragged their mattresses into the living room for a slumber party.
“At that point we weren’t just roommates,” Burke said. “We were friends.”
Whether friends at first or after three months, the semester is only four months long. And then students start over again.
Talking into the night is only the first step in getting to know new roommates, said Rachel Liddle, a senior from Mesa, Ariz., and a resident assistant at Royal Crest Apartments.
Liddle has seen girls who get along and girls who struggle. “I think spending time together really helps,” Liddle said.
Spending time together is not the only key to making friends, Liddle said. It helps if they learn to compromise.
Students find that a lot of the time people expect to run their apartment like their mother ran their home. Remember that everyone comes from a different background, Liddle said.
