A memorable experience

A junior reflects on his memories with his freshman year roommate

Gilbertson

Photo by SUBMITTED

Gilbertson

Story by Meghan Hosely, Online Editor

Every person has an idea of what the worst roommate is like. For some, their roommates could be like the one Leighton Meester portrays in “The Roommate.” For others, their worst nightmare could be someone who leaves their side of the room messy.

And maybe they aren’t either of those. However, more often than not, people most likely leave the residence halls at the end of each year with many stories about their roommates.

During his freshman year in Murray Hall, junior Taylor Gilbertson lived with a random roommate. Gilbertson said he knew his roommate smoked marijuana, but it really didn’t bother him too much.

“I didn’t have any exposure to weed in high school, so I kind of stayed away,” Gilbertson said. “I knew consequences were extreme in college, and campus police got involved, so I still stayed away in college.”

Gilbertson said his roommate would sometimes come into the room at early hours in the morning, assuming he’d gotten back from smoking. Since it never bothered Gilbertson, he didn’t think too much of it.

Until one night, about a month and a half before winter break. The then-freshman was coming home from work around 10 p.m., and as he was walking toward his room, the scent of marijuana got stronger and stronger.

“We were at the end of the hall, and by the time I got to the middle of the wing, it just reeked,” Gilbertson said. “I assumed it was coming from our room.”

When he punched in the code to his room and opened the door, he was greeted by campus police and saw his roommate and one of his friends sitting on the futon in handcuffs.

The police asked Gilbertson if they could search through his stuff, and he said his roommate vouched for him, telling the police Gilbertson didn’t smoke.

Shortly after, Gilbertson’s roommate moved out of Murray Hall and into The Plaza Hotel.

“I got a room to myself for about a month and a half, which was pretty nice,” Gilbertson said, chuckling.

When students are caught smoking in the dorms by a resident assistant, campus police are immediately called to come search the room. However, it’s up to the Hall Director’s discretion on what happens to the resident.

The Housing and Residence Life office is also involved when students try to switch roommates for the next semester.

Diana Hager, university services associate, said students go to their Hall Directors first about moving out of their current room, and then contact housing.

“Usually, if it’s just a disagreement, like someone’s too loud in the morning, we don’t do much,” Hager said. “But if it’s much bigger than that, we’re willing to let them switch rooms.”

As for Gilbertson, the junior said there weren’t ever any hard feelings toward his first roommate.

“He didn’t have a girlfriend or anything, so everything else was pretty chill,” he said. “I still see him around campus and usually say hi to him.”