The university environment is a drastic change for all who enter, no matter what your background or experience is. Tensions in a university student house can really run high, and each person has their own needs to meet. For example, students may not wish to clean because of upcoming exams or papers they are working on. It can become frustrating if one housemate expects the others to do all the work when everyone has responsibilities and roles to do in the house.
When living in a student house, it is important to establish an amicable rapport. To do this, we recommend that you find common ground and keep lines of communication open with your co-residents. The housemates in your student rental should become a support system for you as well.
Discussing chores, school work and other mutual concerns will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page with regard to what needs doing and when. This way there won’t be any misunderstandings or confusion about who does what task – it’s all laid out plainly so nobody can complain!
The first step is to sit down with your housemates and figure out what everyone’s needs are. This will be a great opportunity for you all to get to know one another better, but it may also mean that some of the roommates need more work than others in certain areas (like cooking). Sit back and listen carefully when people talk about their issues so you can really understand where they’re coming from. If there’s an issue like not enough hot water or too much noise going on at night, don’t just focus solely on your own problems – give credence to theirs as well! Once you’ve come up with a few solutions together, try them out for 30 days before deciding if they’ll actually help make things easier.
Here are some tips to get you started with living with housemates:
- Try to be flexible and considerate of your housemates habits. If you are vegan, don’t expect everyone else at the table to eat vegetables if they have dietary restrictions or preferences.
- The best way to get through life together as housemates is by communicating openly and agreeing on compromises that suit all parties involved. This means talking about food preferences, guests visiting the household, schedules for washing your clothes, how much time should be allotted per person for showers (so one doesn’t hog up hot water!), scheduling when you’re available for work or study sessions so no one feels ignored …are just some examples.
- Make an effort to build a relationship with each other. Talk over dinner one night about where you come from and why you chose this school/city for example. It will make living together more enjoyable!
- Talk to one another about what you both want and need out of the house.
- Be understanding towards each other’s needs for making studying/working hard easier, even though it may seem like giving in at first. It will save everyone stress in the long run which is better for everyone involved!
- Verbalize and compromise. Be understanding of each other’s needs to make studying/working hard easier, even though it may seem like giving in at first. It will save everyone stress – which is better for everyone involved!
