What do you get when you cross alliances and betrayal with flow charts and Venn diagrams? If you guessed a hybrid of “The Apprentice” and “Survivor,” you’re close, but I’m talking about an even more epic contest: room draw. On my list of least-looked-forward-to times of the year, room draw gives midterms a run for its money in the stress category. From tears to the silent treatment, this seemingly innocuous task of choosing where to live has caused more than its fair share of drama in my Princeton life. Compounded by the fact that your unknown draw time may severely limit your options, room draw toys with the control issues of the many type-A’s in our Princeton community.
So when those e-mails from undergraduate housing manager Angela Hodgeman start coming, I brace myself for battle. The brutal honesty required to break up with a current roomate along with the permutational skills needed to arrange the members of your group in room possibilities can be mentally exhausting. The final room decisions need to align with the wants, needs, living styles, sleep patterns and dining situations of the members of your draw group, all while you have no idea which rooms will be available when your draw time rolls around. As a veteran room-drawer, I think I have finally figured out how to keep the bloodshed to a minimum this March.
First, we need to be honest. Breaking up is hard to do, and having “the talk” with a soon-to-be ex-roommate can be pretty awkward. That said, it is much better to be candid about what your roommate may actually know to be true than to spend the whole year being passive-aggressive. Before you know it, that stray sock that finds itself on your side of the room may be the catalyst for all-out war. Being on the receiving end of this breakup can be tough, too. In this case, it’s important to keep in mind that the business of rooming is a tricky one, and even if you can’t live together you can still be friends.
This brings us to my next suggestion: assess yourself objectively. I think that this is probably the hardest thing to do. Personally, I am very good at keeping my things out of my roommates’ spaces. However, because my natural tendency is to put my things wherever I please, neatness is an unsteady equilibrium in my life, and disturbances such as exams can upset that equilibrium. Be it neatness, music or any other living style preference, we all need to let our future roommates know how we live at various times of the year, or your iPod speakers may find themselves at the bottom of Lake Carnegie in a concrete overcoat.
Once we lay out our dos and don’ts, however, we need to realize that, in the end, we will have to give a little bit. I still haven’t gotten used to sharing a space smaller than my room at home with other people, but I think I have learned a lot about compromise. It is rare to find people who have the exact same living styles, but even very different people can get along if both agree to make allowances for the other. Even though distinguishing between what we want and what we need can be difficult, a general air of yielding to the other person (or people) can go a long way in keeping rooming stress low before and after the draw.
In the end, the best thing to do to keep the drama out of room draw is to have some perspective. Unless the problem is severe enough to warrant an intervention from your RCA or dorm assistant, you might just have to deal with the fact that your roommate asks you to shut the lights off five hours before you planned to go to sleep. A school year goes by in a flash, and there are plenty of spaces around campus outside your dorm waiting for you to discover them.
I foresee my room draw experience this year going relatively without hiccups, but I am prepared to take any that come along in stride. The way I see it, compromise and negotiation are skills that will certainly come in handy in my post-Princeton pursuits, so what better time is there to test those skills out than while I’m still safe in the bubble? Happy drawing!
Sophia LeMaire is a mechanical and aerospace engineering major from Longmeadow, Mass. She can be reached at slemaire@princeton.edu.
Read More
Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
