Tips for Living in Residence

Living in residence is a great way to immerse yourself in college life. You'll have the opportunity to meet new people and experience everything the college has to offer. It can also take time to settle into your new home away from home. Keep reading for tips on how to make the most of your residence experience.

Adjusting to Residence

There are lots of activities that you can participate in to help you find your way here at Holland College. Whether it is through social activities, athletics, recreational sports, clubs, or by being active in student leadership through the student union, you will find that participating will help you feel like you belong here. By socializing with our international students, you will learn more about different cultures, languages, and histories, and gain a strong sense of how you fit into it all! 

We understand that becoming a part of the residence community is not always easy. You may find it difficult to put yourself out there to make new friends. First and foremost, please understand that you're not alone, and there is nothing wrong with you—even if no one else is talking about feeling out of place, other people are bound to feel the same way.

Adjusting to college and feeling like you belong can be a process that takes a bit of time and effort. Just because everyone else seems to be settling in doesn't mean they aren't also struggling. If you are struggling, connect with the Holland College Counselling Services team. 

Residence Life Coordinators (RLCs)

RLCs are students who live in the residence and provide a welcoming, family-oriented environment. They will help you develop the skills needed to become an independent and strong individual and transition from living at home to your new residence home.  They plan and implement educational and social programming, help you find supports for academic or personal issues if you need them, and promote a sense of community within the residence.

How to be a Great Roommate

It is important to sit down with your roommates and have an honest conversation about how you are going to handle different aspects of living together. Here are a few suggestions to start the conversation:

Do you plan to share food?

If you agree to share food:

  • Determine a rotation for purchasing groceries.
  • Discuss any allergies or dietary needs.

Sharing of Items 

Discuss whether you will share dishes, utensils, books, clothing, paper towel, toilet paper, laptops, etc.

  • What items are you prepared to share, and what items belonging to your roommates might you want to borrow?
  • Set guidelines and limits for sharing.

Cleanliness and Cleaning Responsibilities

  • Create a list of jobs such as taking out the garbage and recyclables and determine who is going to do them, or draw up a schedule so that the chores rotate amongst you all.
  • Determine how often the garbage and recycling will be taken out.
  • Discuss who will be responsible for purchasing cleaning products.

Privacy

  • Some people love to have visitors, others prefer to keep their own space private. Discuss with your roommates what their preferences are, and tell them yours. 
  • Discuss how you can be respectful of each other’s privacy.
  • Discuss acceptable times for having guests over.
  • Discuss how often in a week can friends come over and how many at a time.
  • Discuss whether guests of other genders are acceptable.

Study Times

  • Discuss your study schedules.
  • How will you ensure that your and your roommates have healthy study habits?
  • When you are studying, what is an acceptable volume for the TV and stereo?

Overnight Guests

  • How frequently do you plan to have overnight guests?
  • How far in advance do you want to be told about your roommate having an overnight guest?
  • Are there any limitations to when a guest can or cannot stay over, such as during mid-term and final exams?
  • Discuss rules that would respect each other’s privacy while guests are over.

Smoking, Drinking, Drugs

  • If you drink alcohol, discuss your drinking habits.
  • Talk about how smoking, drinking and the use of drugs may affect one another.
  • Smoking is not permitted in the residence, but if one or both roommates smoke, you may have to discuss ways to reduce the smell of smoke that remains on clothing.

Parties/Entertainment

  • How frequently do you plan to party in the residence? How may this affect your roommates?

How social are you?

  • Discuss ways you can socialize which are reasonable and conducive to all of you enjoying the experience of living in residence.