The Love/Hate Rollercoaster of being Roommates!! By Julia and Maria

As you may know, Julia and me are roommates (by the way, Julia and I). We have just been here for almost two months and, as roommates, we have experienced a lot of different moments. We all have some days when we just want to cry for the whole day and night, but we also have a lot of great days. We have learned that it is important to spend time with each other, but not too much time. It is also important to have some space and breaks away from each other. Something that can help is spend the long weekends without your roommate and try to be friends with girls in other houses and Day Students. It is normal that at the beginning of the year we all want to be very close to our roommates because it's the easiest thing to do, but we need to learn to stay away from each other. This doesn't mean that you can't be with him/her, it means that you need to have your own space. We both have learned that it's better to address the problems or conflicts in the moment. Because if you wait too long, they can become bigger than they were before. We also learned that it is important to be honest from the start and tell the things that you like and you don't tolerate. When you have to tell your roommate about the problems, you should say one thing that you appreciate about their behavior and one thing that they should try to change. This doesn't mean that it will always be better, but it's worth it to bring it up. Depending on the situation, you'll need support from an adult or person with experience that can see the things from the outside ( houseparent, grade twelve, seniors). Maybe the problems are not big enough to get to that point and the only thing you need to do is tell your roommate in private. For doing that, you need to address it gently and find the better moment to do it. If you need to say something, make sure it is bothering you and DO NOT attack the other person (eg. I don't like your socks). You need to be understanding, before asking your roommate to change, put yourself in their shoes and think about how they feel and how could you solve it together. NEVER blame the other person. Ask if they want to confess first or if they have something they don't like about you before telling them the conflicts. Keeping in mind that you also can make mistakes because nobody is perfect, including you (sometimes especially you). Finally, make sure that you end up with a solution that can work for both. Never leave things without solving them. This is how you'll live happily ever after with your roommate :).