The Roommate Riddle
Written by Jenny Wiland
While some students stay with the same roommate throughout their undergraduate years, I had the full range of dorm roommate experiences—from getting matched with someone new by the College, to choosing to room with a friend, to even having a room to myself for a couple semesters. There are pros and cons to every situation: some people like the familiarity of old friends, and others, the excitement of making new ones. Some people enjoy having a friendly face to come back to at the end of a long day, while others enjoy the privacy of a single room. Even if you don’t get exactly what you want, fear not—I’ve had five roommates in four years, and they’ve all been excellent people.
When I first came to Hillsdale, I acquired a roommate the way that most freshmen do. I filled out a form on my habits and preferences, crossed my fingers, and hoped the College would pair me with someone with similar interests. Since I had never lived in a room with anyone besides my family, I was nervous about spending the next year with a stranger who I only knew through a couple of emails about fridges and decor.
As it turned out, we got along well. Though we didn’t share any classes or extracurriculars, we both valued our academic work and wanted to cultivate stronger relationships with those around us. We bonded over the crazy unknowns of freshman year, from cafeteria food to the anonymous note left on a fake lemon outside our door.
As freshman year neared its end, I once again needed to solve the roommate riddle. My first roommate had joined a sorority, and I had become close with a small group of other girls. The numbers worked out just right for me to room with one of them, and we all ended up in Benzing, which made girls’ nights easy. We both liked having quiet time, but we also enjoyed sharing stories and jokes with each other at the end of the day. Since we already knew each other well, neither of us had to deal with the stress of making a good impression.
Though our friendship remains to this day, our roommate-ship came to an end when she took a semester off in the spring. I had the room to myself for a few months. I made full use of the space, spreading my books onto the extra shelf and covering the empty bed with a hedgehog blanket from Wal-Mart. I quickly learned that I have a hard time being productive in my room, but it was a lovely haven to rest in after long days studying in Lane Hall or at the library.
Though I enjoyed living alone, I didn’t want to pay extra for a single room the next year. The roommate hunt began anew. This time, I got an email from another student who also wanted to live in Benzing but needed a roommate. We grabbed lunch together and found out that we had many common interests, from creative writing to nerdy games. By the end of our meal, we were both eager to room together in the fall.
Our sleep schedules were vastly different, but I tried not to let the door creak when I slipped back into our room late at night, and she made sure to close the dresser drawers carefully when she got ready early in the morning. We enjoyed chatting now and then, and we easily worked around each other’s schedules, whether I was having someone over or she was on a call with her friends.
Spring semester brought another roommate change. My fall-semester roommate wanted to live with a senior she had become friends with before the senior graduated, so the deans placed me with a first-semester transfer student. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but Roommate Number Four was friendly and eager to explore what the College had to offer. I was happy to give whatever tips I could on professors and cafeteria food.
Every time that I had left my roommate up to chance, it had worked out pretty well. So I figured, why not give it another go for senior year? During the summer, I received an email from a fifth-year senior looking for a Benzing roommate who understood the basic rules of roommate decorum. We hit it off pretty well over the phone, and got along just as easily when the fall semester rolled around. Both of us knew our way around dorm life, and working around each other’s habits was easy. Since she was on the Debate team and I did Mock Trial, some weekends found one or both of us absent, but we had great conversations when both of us were around.
My last roommate has graduated, and I’m soon to follow. I have the room to myself—the same room I’ve lived in for the past three years after moving from McIntyre to Benzing. It’s a pretty nice setup. One half is a dedicated study space, and the other features fluffy blankets and a beanbag I can collapse onto at the end of a long day of classes. If I ever need someone to talk to, my friends are just down the hall.
Though I’m happy to live alone, I’m also happy I got to know five lovely roommates over the years. I met each of them in a different way, and I would never have gotten to know most of them if I didn’t need someone to live with. If you have a close friend you stick with all four years, that’s fantastic—but if you don’t, that’s more than okay. A new roommate is a chance to find a new friend on campus. And with the amount of wonderful people at this college, the odds are good that you’ll find someone you like.
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Jenny Wiland, ’23, studies rhetoric and public address with a minor in psychology. She loves her cat, dark chocolate, and writing stories, especially science fiction and fantasy.
Published in May 2023