A few weeks ago while going to check my mail, I overheard the young lady speaking to
a Resident Assistant. The young lady was complaining to the R.A. about how mean and
rude her roommates were and how she needed to swap rooms immediately.
With the R.A. trying her best to empathize with the young woman, she assured her that
the time to request a room change was quickly approaching. Remaining as patient as
possible, the R.A. listened attentively as the woman vented on.
On the outskirts of it all, I could only imagine how difficult it must be in a living situation
as cruel as hers. While the school places students in such living quarters for a reason, that
reason was never meant for students like her to be targeted or outcast.
As many of us may know, having roommates or suitemates isn’t the easiest situation in
the world. However, it is a learning experience meant to better prepare us for the real
world. It not only helps to make us well rounded, but helps us better appreciate having
our own space later on in life.
Far too often I hear of students in living situations similar to that of the young woman.
Where students either feel left out, or in worse cases, forced out of their own rooms or
suites. This should never be the case.
When you are assigned to share a room with someone else, sharing is exactly what should
take place. It’s you and your roommates’ space entirely, and it’s extremely important that
it is always treated as such.
Forcing someone out of their space by attacking or mistreating them is unacceptable.
These dorms are the temporary homes of thousands of students. This is why it’s
important that they each be in healthy living situations.
Of course, anytime you take a number of people and place them in a room or suite
together, they’re destined to have some differences. But differences don’t necessarily
have to be a bad thing.
When you see differences amongst your suitemates or roommates you get to witness
exactly how other people live. Having diversity gives you more insight into how people
lead their lives.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll agree with everything your roommate or suitemate does,
but with the acceptance of diversity comes respect. When you respect them, you respect
their differences and try your best to make things work.
For instance, if you don’t agree with the things taking place in your suite, you discuss it.
Discussion allows you to diffuse and even prevent confrontations. It is the mature and
respectable thing to do.
What many tend to overlook is that living on campus is a once in a lifetime experience. It
is an experience that, amongst many others, should be appreciated.
When you appreciate the experience, you gain more from it than you’d ever imagine.
You walk away better prepared and enlightened about the many differences amongst
people.
While there’s no doubt that sharing a room or suite can be difficult, when certain levels
of respect and unity are maintained within the household, only positive things can result.
This includes you becoming a better person, who knows a lot more about the diversity of
life.
Ebony Linzy can be reached by email at linzy.record@live.com.