The First Roommate I Had in University 🥲

When I got admission into the University of Ilorin, one of the things I was most excited about was finally experiencing university life.

New school. New environment. New people.

And, of course, my first roommate.

She was already in her third year when I was entering my first year. I didn't know her before then. Someone who helped me find accommodation connected us, and eventually, we got the room together.

We split everything 50/50, and honestly, the first few months were fine.

At first, I thought I had gotten lucky.

Then things slowly started changing.

My roommate was very particular about how things should be done, and sometimes, it felt like her being a senior student meant she expected me to simply follow whatever she said.

One day, she created a schedule for cooking and cleaning.

The idea itself wasn't bad. We were sharing a room, so having some structure made sense.

The problem was that my school schedule was completely different from hers.

I'm a Performing and Film Arts student, which meant some days I had to leave the house very early and get to the theatre before 8 a.m. Between lectures, rehearsals and everything else, there were days I wouldn't return until 11 p.m. or even midnight.

So sometimes, I genuinely couldn't cook on my assigned day.

And she wasn't happy about it.

One morning, I had already left for school when she messaged me, asking what she was supposed to eat because I had gone without cooking.

I was already stressed, and that message honestly irritated me.

I told her I wasn't hungry either.

That was the moment I finally decided I was done.

I told her I didn't want us to continue with the turn by turn cooking arrangement. We should each cook our own food, buy our own things and stop depending on each other.

There was the usual conversation about her being older and having more experience, but eventually, she agreed.

From that point, we started doing things separately.

And I thought that would solve everything.

It didn't.

While I was busy going to lectures, rehearsals and trying to survive university life, things were apparently being said about me around the hostel.

I started hearing that my roommate had been telling people things about me.

Some of the stories were things I didn't even recognize myself in.

I tried to clear my name where I could. Some people believed me. Some didn't.

Eventually, I stopped trying to convince everyone.

Then something unexpected happened.

My roommate got a SIWES opportunity and travelled to Lagos.

And suddenly, I was living alone.

For almost six months.

Those months were actually peaceful. 😂

Eventually, our hostel rent was about to expire, and the landlord told everyone that the building would be renovated, so we all had to move out. We were told we might be able to return later.

I messaged my roommate to let her know.

She told me she would send someone to come and pick up her belongings.

There was one thing I asked her to leave behind.

Her curtains.

I still had to stay in the room for another month or two, and I didn't want to stay there without curtains.

She agreed.

I told her that once I eventually left, I would pack the curtains and keep them safely until she returned.

Everything seemed settled.

Then, during the holiday, I moved some of my belongings to a friend's place.

Unfortunately, thieves broke into the place.

A lot of valuable things were stolen.

Including some of my expensive hair pieces.

And unfortunately, my roommate's curtains were also among the things stolen.

I immediately told her what happened.

Instead of understanding, she was angry.

She wanted me to provide the curtains.

I was already dealing with my own loss, but I didn't want the situation to become even bigger than it already was.

So after speaking with my mum, I decided to replace them.

I bought the exact same curtains.

When my roommate came back to collect them, things still became heated.

She shouted, made a scene and even called my mum, telling her to talk to me.

At that point, I just sat there thinking about everything that had happened between us.

I had tried.

I had tried to adjust.

I had tried to keep the peace.

I had tried to meet expectations, even when some things were difficult for me.

But somehow, the moment I stopped inconveniencing myself just to keep someone else happy, everything became a problem.

Looking back now, I don't think every roommate experience is meant to end in friendship.

Sometimes, you simply learn how to live with another person, learn what you can tolerate, learn what you cannot, and eventually move on.

And this was only my first roommate experience.

Because when I entered second year and got another roommate...

Let's just say...

The first one was sly, but the second one was a SERPENT. 🐍😭

Follow for “How I Survived My Roommate: Part 2.”

Because that story?

That is a completely different chapter. 😭