A Total stranger in your room

In Anna Altman’s NewYorkTimes blog post  “A College education should include rooming with a total stranger” she explores how good is it for students to share a room with someone you’ve never seen before.

In the article, the author lets us have her research about all negative and positive effects of rooming with a total stranger. She says that college is a great part of everyone’s life where people have to learn  not only how to solve math problems or analyze a piece of literature but also how to communicate with other people. It will help students with their personal life and with their work. The author says, that”Life with someone who differs from you marks a tremendous opportunity for impressionable young people to expand horizons and open eyes in extremely important ways».

However, there is an opposite opinion considering this problem. The author says, that some people claim that a person should be allowed to choose his or her roommate because college is a very stressful place, where students have to have a calm place, like their rooms, which they can share with someone who is close to him/her.

Now, more and more universities try to hire companies like RoomSynk, which suppose to help freshmen to find «a perfect roommate» – a person whom the student can get along with. It is easier not only for actual students, who can choose someone with the similar interests but also for universities, which don’t have to worry about moving people around. However, is it really necessary?

Interesting, how this problem touches different people. On the one hand, I understand, that it would be fun to get to know new people and try to communicate with them. I consider myself as a non-conflictive person who can live with anyone(except someone who leaves her hair everywhere). For example, our tennis team is very diverse and I have to cope with everyone; I don’t have any problems with it. Plus, it expands person’s horizon if he or she shares a room with a total stranger; it will «get yanks out of your comfort zone, which is, after all, one of the main points of college». After all, college is a new life, kind of «blank space» where you can change everything. What can be better than changing your whole environment?

On the other hand, stressful exams, long papers and grope projects will definitely «yank students out» of their  zones and maybe all they will want is to be with someone who knows them.  Moreover, University  provides tons of opportunities when people can make friends. Classes are also a good place to start talking to someone who can be your friend in the future. As we can, not only a room is a place to find friends.

Talking about me,  I kind of chose my roommate.  In July, our coach told us that we definitely will be live with someone from the team so we will have the same schedule(and this is an amazing thing, that you don’t have to wake anyone if you have a practice at 6 am). My roommate, Sara, she is from Kazakhstan texted me and said that wants to live with someone who speaks Russian and, as there are only two people who have this ability, we live together. And you know, I like it. I like that I live with a person who has the same mentality as I do. I don’t have to select my words accurately with her, I can just tell her whatever I want. Moreover, it’s nice to hear Russian speech sometimes; it reminds me of home.

In conclusion, I don’t understand why is it so important? University is the place to study, and a room hasn’t a huge effect on it. Besides, I absolutely don’t want anyone to make me live with a total stranger. Personally for me, living here, in the USA, 1000 miles away from home is already a totally new experience and as much as a want to pretend that I don’t miss my parents and my country,  probably I do, and I am glad having someone who reminds me of where am I from. That is why putting everyone in the same category is wrong; there are people who wants to shake their lives off and there are someone who don’t. Making students do something is never a solution. Let them decide.

Work Cited

Altman, Ann. “College Education Should Include Rooming With a Stranger.”  The New York                                                           Times. OP-Talk, 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 27 Jan. 2016.