Five tips for getting along with your roommates - Geneva College
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Five tips for getting along with your roommates

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Campus Life

You may or may not have chosen them, but you can learn to live peacefully with them.

1) Post copies of everyone’s schedule on a common wall.

That way you have a general idea of where everyone is and the flow of his or her week. Posting schedules takes about 5 minutes, sticky tack and filled-in schedules.

2) Make a cleaning plan.

Living in a messy environment is usually stressful. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your living space clean. Divide and conquer cleaning, either by task or by week!

For example, with four roommates, the tasks can be divided into: trash, vacuuming/sweeping, sink and toilet bathroom floor and tub. Alternatively, one roommate can do all the tasks for the week.  Remember to set expectations of cleanliness, but give some grace and a helping hand to your roommates.

3) Eat a meal at least once a week with each other

This can be something that you chop, mix, and bake yourselves or just a meal in the dining hall. Either way, mark it on your calendar, and plan for a weekly time of fellowship. Ideally, this should be a meal at a time that no one has a stressful class or meeting afterwards.

4) Have “Spill-It”

“Spill-It” is a weekly meeting to update one another on life and living together. It can be called anything, but the name “Spill-It” comes from some three-year roommates, Hannah (Troup) Joseph ’17 & Emily (Darr) Gatz ’17. Hannah, Emily and their other roommates met on Sunday evenings and called it Spill-It Sunday. The length of time can vary from 20 minutes to 2 hours.

There are two ground rules for Spill-It, sit in a circle and go around the circle. Take turns talking; only one person talks at a time. There are five components to Spill It:

-Start by talking about last week: Remember and celebrate the highs and lows of the week before. Process through what has been going on.

-Go over the upcoming week: Talk about exams, papers, tests, parties, concerts, dates, and travel. After everyone has had a turn to talk about his or her past and upcoming week, go around the circle again

-Voice roommate concerns: Will we keep the room at 50 degrees or 75 degrees? Who is going to wash the dishes? By giving a time and place to talk about concerns, conflicts can be reduced.

-Share prayer requests: Is a grandpa in the hospital? Is a test stressing you out? Tell your roommates so that you can pray for one another.

-close in prayer: Pray for your roommates. Prayer is the most important part of peacekeeping! Ask God for the ability to love for your roommates.

To learn how to join our Christ-centered academic community at Geneva College, contact Admissions at admissions@geneva.edu or 800-847-8255.

Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.

Jan 23, 2020

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