“Roommates” (2026), featuring Sadie Sandler and Chloe East, focuses on the common issue of roommates, and what most people do when the communication barriers break down. (Image Courtesy of Netflix & Hulu)
Alexia: Hi! I’m Alexia Bailey, a junior here at the University of Colorado Boulder. Because I’ve been here and seen things, I’m here to share everything I’ve picked up so far, which is a surprising amount of information. “What’s Eating at Alexia” is my unofficial and unfiltered guide to some of the things that being a CU Boulder Buff brings. Think of it as your guide to navigating everything that makes CU Boulder, well, CU Boulder. Whether you’re a freshman finding your footing or a senior with “no body, no crime” level grievances about finals week, I’m here to share my takes, tips and honest observations on everything from the sometimes-unpredictable choices that CU Boulder makes to navigating online controversies that surround and impact college life. College is a wild, unforgettable ride, and “What’s eating at Alexia” is here to make sense of some of it, one opinion at a time.
At some point in your time here at the University of Colorado Boulder, you will, most likely, have a roommate. And you and that roommate will, in fact, have some type of conflict by the time finals hit in May.
Dearest readers, if you have found yourself at odds with your roommate, you have gone to the right person. I have had a total of six roommates in my three years here at CU Boulder, and there hasn’t been a single one that I haven’t butt heads with at some point. Whether it be who did or didn’t do the dishes, slamming doors at 2 a.m. or having your roommate’s boyfriend sleep over whilst his smell stinks up the whole room (true story), there is always something to be mad about during the average roommate experience.
Do not fear, this is a normal, average thing to go through. Most of my friends have gone through this exact situation and have come out the other side relatively unscathed. This is such a cultural norm that there’s a movie about it, “Roommates” featuring Sadie Sandler and Chloe East. The movie follows two girls who find each other together as roommates after meeting once, and, unsurprisingly, discover that living with another person is a lot harder than it sounds. And that’s probably because it’s hard to remember that your roommate is a person too, with their own problems, stressors and quirks that you might know nothing about.
So, if you find yourself in a particularly sticky situation with your roommate, my biggest tip is an oldie, but a goodie: imagine yourself in their shoes. What stressors or problems do they have going on? Could they have reasonably expected this to be an issue? Could you, in fact, be the person to blame for the rising tensions?
It’s human nature to be selfish, to not think of anyone’s experience but your own. I find that being empathetic towards your roommate is the best way to understand where they are coming from. Now, this isn’t to say that them not doing their dishes is your fault, but understanding, “hey, they’re taking 18 credits and their dog just died,” makes it a little easier to not lose it over the dishes.
When it comes to actually confronting your roommate, do it sooner rather than later. There is nothing worse than letting a tiny annoyance simmer for three weeks until it becomes a full-blown personal vendetta. Suddenly, they leave one cup in the sink and you’re mentally drafting a 14-page dissertation titled “Why I Cannot Live With You Anymore.” Talk to them. I know, groundbreaking advice.
But seriously, for how much trouble we give communication majors, I think that communication is probably the most important part of living with another person. If your roommate keeps slamming the door at 2 a.m., tell them. If their boyfriend has essentially moved into your bedroom and you can smell him before you can see him, tell them. If you feel like you’re doing all of the cleaning, tell them. Your roommate is not a mind reader, and expecting them to magically understand why you’re angry makes things worse. And when you do bring something up, try not to make it an attack. “You are literally the most inconsiderate person I have ever met” probably isn’t going to inspire a productive conversation. Instead, explain what is bothering you and why. There is a big difference between saying, “you never clean anything,” and saying, “I feel like I’ve been doing most of the cleaning lately, and I’m getting frustrated.”
One sounds like the opening line of a divorce. The other sounds like two people who might actually be able to solve a problem.
Also, be willing to hear them out. Maybe you genuinely are doing more of the cleaning. Maybe they genuinely feel like they’re contributing in other ways. Maybe neither of you has been communicating and you have both been quietly building resentment over a dirty pan that has been sitting in the sink since Tuesday. At the end of the day, you are living with another human being. They have different habits, different schedules, different stressors and, unfortunately, different standards for how long a dirty dish can remain in the sink before it becomes a biological experiment. Furthermore, do not be afraid to get your Community Engagement Mentor (your RA) if you have any trouble talking to your roommate, it is literally their job to help you with things like this. They have countless hours of training and real-life experience with what you are experiencing and are an invaluable tool.
My last piece of advice is that you do not have to be best friends with your roommate. I mean, I highly encourage it, and I have genuinely found friends for life by rooming with people, but it’s not the end of the world if you’re not. In fact, you don’t even have to particularly like your roommate. But you do have to find a way to coexist.
So, dearest readers, before you send that passive-aggressive text or start calculating how quickly you can pack up whilst your roommate is in class, ask yourself whether you’ve actually talked to them. Try to understand where they’re coming from. And then, if all else fails, put on your headphones, close your bedroom door and remember that, if nothing else, this experience will make for a really great opinion piece in the future.
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Alexia Bailey at Alexia.Bailey@colorado.edu
