by Sara Osipow > University of Maryland, College Park | photos Viktors Dindzans

If there’s one universal experience we all go through in college, it’s cohabitating with a stranger, also known as a roommate. Whether your roommate is the best thing since Facebook or not, we want to hear about their weird habits that drive you crazy. We could talk about their redeeming qualities, but who wants to hear about that?

“My roommate decided once to build a ‘cove’ within our room so that she was completely boxed in on four sides by tall plywood. She would sit in the ‘cove’ with the lights out, so I never knew when she was in the room.”
—Karen, Senior, Mechanical Engineer, University of Maryland

“I’m sitting in the common room of my apartment studying with my friend, Brian, when out of nowhere my roommate starts meowing. It wasn’t unusual for her to make random animal noises around the apartment but she was sitting right next to us. Then she said, “I think there is a cat in here.” Brian and I just looked at her, not really knowing how to respond.”
—Michelle, Junior, Exercise Science Education, The Ohio State University

“My roommate last year was a compulsive neat freak. I would wake up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning to the sound of his vacuum cleaner. One time I walked in and he was mopping the ceiling. This was a dorm room by the way”
—Joe, Junior, Engineering Major, University of Maryland

“First year I made the mistake of rooming with my best friend from childhood. The kid ended up being really lame. He attached himself to me for that whole semester and thought all the friends I had made were his too. By spring I had a new roommate that wasn’t so socially inept.”
—Chris, Junior Pre-Med, Stony Brook University, NY

“My roommate had this goldfish that was over two-years-old that she was obsessed with. One weekend while she was away she told me to feed it and change its water. I did but the thing died anyway—it was a two-year-old goldfish! For the rest of the semester she held a grudge against me.”
—Michelle, Sophomore, Psychology Major, University of Maryland