Shantelle Rogers switched roommates during winter break because she and her former roommate simply didn’t mesh well.

Rogers, a freshman communication studies major, described herself to be more laid back and mature, which contrasted with her former roommate’s “boisterous” personality. The two started off as friends, but as time went on, little things that were problematic grew into bigger issues.

“It was good, until it went bad,” Rogers said.

The little things were small annoyances, such as her roommate’s television being too loud, or her roommate talking on the phone late in the evening. As time went on, the problems grew into having too many guests over, and it only escalated from there.

“Ultimately, it got to a point where my old roommate called off of work to fight me downstairs in our lounge,” Rogers said. “That was the tipping point. I started making an effort to do the process of finding a new roommate.”

For sophomore aeronautics major Logan Baird, the situation was much simpler.

“He wasn’t really a roommate,” Baird said. “He wasn’t in the room too much. Wherever he was, he was real quiet. It was kind of awkward.”

For Baird, he didn’t clash with his roommate, but he didn’t know him that well, either.

“When that time came [where] everyone was changing [roommates], I was perfectly fine with it,” said Baird. “I knew it wasn’t going to be personal.”

“Some students do no changes, and some students do upwards of three to five changes each academic year,” Josette Skobieranda Dau, assistant director of residence services said.

Skobieranda Dau said that students change roommates for a variety of reasons. Most often, it is because they want to live with a newfound friend, they are not compatible with their current roommate, they want to live in a building with different amenities than their current residence hall or for financial reasons.

Of course, switching roommates isn’t the only option for those encountering any type of conflict with their roommate.

“The best option would be to sit down with their resident assistant and review the roommate agreement,” said Skobieranda Dau. “People can sit down and review the roommate agreement and make adjustments to that so that they can come up with some agreements among them for how things really operate on a day-to-day basis within the context of their room.”

Baird and Rogers are happier in their current housing arrangement.

“It’s really good,” said Rogers. “Everything is working smoothly. I like it very much.”

Contact Blythe Alspaugh at [email protected]