Bonding with one’s roommate and floor is a task some students find easy while others struggle to adjust to.

“When residents have their doors open, they get along with others better and know more people on their floor,” said Heidi Lizyness, a senior family, consumer and nutritional sciences major.

Lizyness is a community adviser in Stevenson Towers and said individuals on a floor must work together to bond as a whole.

“It depends on the floor and social levels of individuals,” she said.

Best friends means friends forever

Sophomore sociology major Emily Smart and junior accountancy major Megan Schwartz live in Neptune Hall and have been roommates since the beginning of the spring semester.

Schwartz is a transfer student at NIU this semester and Smart’s old roommate no longer lives in the residence halls. Both Schwartz and Smart feel it is important for roommates to get along with each other and their floor.

“We talked about living together beforehand and we try to find activities that we can both do together,” Schwartz said.

Smart and Schwartz have two different groups of friends, but have managed to develop a mutual group of friends. Both eat, work out and attend parties together.

“We both knew each other before we became roommates but we never really hung out together until now,” Smart said. Smart and Schwartz suggest roommates who don’t get along try and find things to do with each other outside their small living space.

“I love my roommate and I’m glad we get along,” Smart said.

Making new adjustments

Alexandria Allen, a sophomore early childhood education major and Stevenson resident, had to adjust to having a roommate this semester.

“My roommate last year was never there and only came on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour, so I basically had the room to myself,” Allen said.

Allen said it was weird for her to walk into her room and see someone lying in the other bed.

“I usually like to stay by myself in my room but I like my roommate even though we are different,” Allen said. “We listen to different music and we don’t hang out together but we get along.”

Colleen Reimer, a sophomore special education major and Allen’s roommate, transferred to NIU this semester and didn’t have a hard time adjusting to having a roommate.

“I’ve always lived with someone in my family so it isn’t hard to live with someone else,” Reimer said. “I enjoy others’ company and I love to get to know other people.”

Reimer and Allen said they get along well even though they both have different backgrounds and hang out with different groups of people. Both said they respect one another and said it’s easy to get along with each other when the roommate is nice and friendly.

“I believe me and Alex get along so well because we are different, yet the same,” Reimer said.