Roommate Break-Up: When Living With Your Bestie Turns Out to Be A Mistake

If you are reading this article, I am assuming you are one of the few, whom upon entering their first year of college, decided to take their relationship with their best friend to the next level: you decided to become college roommates. Countless hours were spent together planning your color scheme for the room and browsing “Bed Bath and Beyond” catalogues. As the days until move-in day ticked away, daydreams of late-night heart-to-hearts and movie nights filled your head as you anticipated this epic, year-long sleepover. You would be living in a dream situation ... or so it would seem.

Slowly but surely your dream of living with your best friend has turned into a year-long nightmare in close quarters. You never noticed how different the two of you really were until you were faced with her faults on a daily basis: the way she leaves her clothes thrown slovenly over her desk chair, the way she hogs the remote to YOUR television, the alarm she sets for 5 a.m. every morning that never wakes her up but constantly rips you from your own precious sleep. Your buttons are being pushed and as winter break approaches and you start to consider where you will be living for the next school year, as you can’t imagine going through this same situation again. Your roommateship has run its course, and the only thing left to do is break-up with your roommate.

Breaking up with a roommate can be messy business, especially when that roommate is a very close friend. Friendships offer suffer greatly or can end altogether if this situation is not handled delicately. Here are a few tips for dropping the bomb on your roommate, without inciting World War III.

“We need to talk.”

Sit your roommate down one day and simply explain that you would rather not live together next year. It’s not necessary to divulge all the things about her that you find annoying, however, as this will only cause an argument and turn this conversation into a confrontation.

“It’s not you, it’s me.”

Let your current roomie know that this is not personal. You simply feel that living together isn’t good for your friendship and preserving that friendship is very important to you.

“I hope we can still be friends.”

You totally can! Some friends just aren’t meant to live together (as you have learned). Being so alike can cause a serious clash, but there is no reason you two can’t remain friends even though you won’t be living together anymore. Distance does make the heart grow fonder.

Hopefully these tips will help ease the awkward and sometimes messy process that comes with breaking-up with a roommate. Whether you choose to seek a future roommate or try the single life, keep in mind that every living situation comes with its respective ups and downs. Move forward with an open mind and take this break-up a lesson learned.

By: Luria Freeman | Image: Source