Conclusion: Advice for Living with a Roommate

Since this might be my last post, I’d like to write for those of you who will eventually have new roommates too. There’s a lot of advice that I’d like to share in regards to living with a stranger. In the end, it can be a healthy experience where many things can be learned. I’ve become accustomed to all of the cultural differences and I’m glad.

Firstly, you can attempt to talk about activities which you know you share similar tastes in. Secondly, if your roommates attempt to invite to you do activities with you, always be willing to accept and join them. You can always play sports together or alternatively, you can go do community service. I also think that going to get food together is great. It leaves space for much discussion and learning about each other.

Be courteous of their possessions and don’t make assumptions about what they’d like. Always ask if you want to use something that belongs to them unless they give you their permission. For example, my suite has certain policies that we all agree upon. Even though your roommate may be extremely nice and have no problem when you ask for something, continue this routine until you can feel very comfortable together.

I'll finish off this post with a picture of me and my roommate

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Halloween.

Just a few days ago, I celebrated Halloween with my suites. We proceeded to go to Goodwill a few days before in order to get possession of costumes. We ended up buying nothing. Afterwards, we went with another suite on our floor to eat at a restaurant called Tong’s Thai. 

The big night, we find out that we have absolutely nothing to wear. While contemplating what we could possibly we, we heard a chorus of screams coming from outside. We quickly went outside to observe a mass of nude individuals getting ready to do be involved with Calvert Ghosts. While we are within the crowd observing, my roommate suddenly gets naked and jumps down to the first floor from the second floor. You could say that it was his moment of glory. He was applauded by many cheers. We all shared a laugh afterwards.

Finally, we came to the point where we had to choose costumes, by the end of it, I figured it was not worth the hassle but my roommates did not. They thought that being the Jonas Brothers was the quickest creatable costume. Finally, they proceeded to find various items of clothing which would become their costume and they posed in a very flamboyant manner. It was humorous.

Alone.

Just getting out of fall break, I've experienced what it's like to be in an empty suite. Three days of emptiness has equated to perhaps what I'd like to call nostalgia. Even though I have two older siblings, I’ve grown accustomed to being in a room alone as well as sleeping on my own. It was interesting at first. The constant silences, the impossibility of communicating with anyone and my inability to do activities with others have all led up to me appreciating what it is like to have room mates.

It's nice to be able to compare the two situations. Silence is quaint and yet I’ve also been able to blast my music as loudly as I want without having to worry about whether anyone cares or not. I've been able to wake up at whichever time that I want. On a separate thought, no more roommates waking me up and no more roommates giving me advice or recommendations. Sometimes they would give me help on my homework and sometimes they would give me recommendations on music.

In learning to deal with having the suite to myself, I decided to meet other people that I generally don’t talk to. I’ve realized that there are other people outside of my suite which are just as much fun to talk to as the people in my suite. All in all, I’ve learned to become more social and appreciate having roommates.

Pictured below: an empty suite.

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Meeting with the Crew's Families

With parent weekend just happening, I feel more knowledgeable about my roommates. I met the relatives of all of my roommates and I became acquainted with them. I had the honor of meeting Hunter's grandmother, Ryan's father and younger brother and Nick's parents. I did get to talk to them for a bit. I liked trying to picture the physical similarities. I also liked observing how they treated each other and how they got along.

Just after coming back from Habitat from Humanity, I was invited to spend the evening in the house belonging to Nick's grandmother. It was pleasurable experience as I had the privilege of meeting Nick's aunt and uncle as well. I got to learn a little about their family history and about other members of the family. We also had some small talk which just let know a little more about the in general. Coming from a Greek background, I could see how part of that culture still existed in the family. What I liked the most about going there was seeing the living room wall which had more family pictures than I could count. We ate homemade Mexican food which was delicious.

Overall, by learning about the families and spending time with them, I feel much closer to my roommates. I learned about their separate lives and how I related to them with my own family.

Meet the Crew

Currently, I'm casually relaxing in my dorm, reminiscing about the past month that I've been here. I figured, I might as well evaluate my life here at Trinity starting with my roommates. Before I get anywhere, let me tell you a bit about my experience with where I've lived. I have lived in Belgium, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and now San Antonio. My experience living here in Calvert Hall with other Texans has been an interesting one. Integrating myself into this new way of living with others my age and not with my parents has had its ups and downs. Actually, pretty much only ups. My time here has been greatly enjoyable and I do feel that life could not be any better. I couldn't ask for any better people to live with.

First off, there's my roommate Hunter and my suitemate Ryan. They're both from Friendswood and they've both graduated from the same high school. Not only that, but they're best friends and they only live a few blocks away from each other in Houston. It's interesting to note their similarities for example political viewpoints and musical tastes. As well as that they're both interested in majoring in either international relations or history. Then there's the other suitemate, Nick. He's from Corpus Christi and planning on majoring in biology and chemistry.