High school has come and gone, and the anticipation of college is now hitting you in the face. There are so many uncertainties, and you will be feeling overwhelmed as well as nervous. I spoke to a DIII football ballplayer named Brandon about what two words that described starting his freshman year, he said, “I felt nervous and excited and wanted to meet my roommate, I was ready to start the next phase in my life.”

We would recommend that you reach out to your roommate before the fall semester starts. In most cases, colleges will be reaching out to you to assign you to your roommate. Most colleges will have you take a personality questionnaire, and again this will depend on the college. We asked Brandon if he filled out a survey, and he stated, “I did not have to fill out a questionnaire because I am an athlete, and our coach assigned us to a football teammate.” He also stated, “you should also mentally prepare yourself that you could be living with a nonathlete, it will depend on the institution, and what they think works best for their athletes.”

Do not be afraid to make the initial contact. It would help if you discussed who will be bringing what, you also have to think about what you might be assigned to more than one roommate. Some things that you should consider is what your practice and workout schedule will be like, the temperature you like in your room, social activities, bedtime, and wake up time. The list can go on; this will all lay on what is important to you. Brandon stated that “It took me a while to get ahold of my roommate because his phone was broken, but I was persistent, I kept messaging him through Facebook, and then he finally responded.” He said that he thought to himself that, “I was not giving up on talking to him, we needed to discuss who was buying what for the dorm.”

Now that you know a little bit about your roommate and you have discussed the incidentals, you should also start thinking about the day-to-day. Discuss the ground rules and what your expectations are, remember communication is key to any good relationship. After that, discuss the furniture or appliances that you both deem appropriate for the dorm room. Check the rules that your college has in place for their living spaces. Some things that you might want to think about bringing are:

Futon or other seating

Mini-fridge

Microwave

TV

Coffee maker

Bulletin board

Fan

Wastebasket

Cleaning supplies for the room

Small handheld vacuum

It's now moving in day! You might feel a little stressed, especially since you will be meeting all sorts of new people. Remind your parents not to bombard you with a million questions, this is your day, and you need to focus on meeting new people and getting settled into your dorm room. They are there to be supportive and to help with organizing your room. If you are organized, and you followed your packing list, then you have nothing to worry about. The last piece of advice from Brandon, “meet as many people as possible, networking with others will help you in more ways than you can imagine, step outside the box and do not be afraid of anything, you got this.”

Updated 5/17/19

Updated 5/17/19

* Originally published on September 26, 2015, by Keirsten Sires