College Roommates

I just finished my first year at college. The whole roommate situation didn’t work out too well. As soon as I moved in I let my roommate know that I was a type 1 diabetic. A few weeks later she told me she was planning on moving out, because she wasn’t comfortable if something were ever happen to me. How should I deal with this for my next roommate? I don’t want to make my roommate nervous because of some condition of mine. Any tips?

1 Like

I don’t think there is anything you can do differently. Your roommate needs to know that you have T1 in case you have a bad low and need assistance. Perhaps your school can help you find someone who won’t freak out.

Maurie

3 Likes

I lived in a house with 7 guys in what could be described as “animal” house by today’s students. I was just one of the guys. It helped that 2 of the roomates were from my high school so they knew what to do if something happened to me but don’t think the others would have felt or treated me differently. I actually diagnosed another roomie when he came down as type 1. Think you just got a bad one, most roomates can deal with small amount of pressure.

Why would you want to do anything different? :confused: Seriously, from out here sitting in the bleachers it looks like you lucked out.

Being ready to “step up” if you go hypo (or whatever) doesn’t strike me as asking that much of a nearly finished proto-adult. If a little thing like that freaked her and she couldn’t think of a better way to cope than moving out, I think you got the better end of this deal.

I suggest continuing to be honest with your roommates. With a potentially good one it should just lead to a conversation where you get to know more about each other. Besides, hey, it’s college! How many idiots could you possibly run into there? :smirk:

1 Like

I’m sorry to hear about your roommate situation. I think being upfront about your Diabetes with your new roommate is very important- you both want to feel safe! I wouldn’t have wanted to live with someone who wasn’t comfortable with Diabetes, but I am sure that wasn’t a fun feeling at all. I don’t think there was anything you could have done differently in this situation- sounds like you did what anyone would have suggested!

have you utilized disability services? Every school is different, but I have heard of some schools that help with roommate/living situations on campus.

The College Diabetes Network has resources on talking with roommates, friends, and other information.

Good luck to you with your next roommate! Hopefully your next roommate will be good. When I was in college, I found that I usually had good roommate situations- with just one year not being so great. I found people to be way more receptive in college.

I hope this helps!

Dunno how many times over the years I’ve heard “Oh yeah, my college roommate had that!” upon people learning I have T1, but it’s a pretty high number. Why so many college roommates turn out to be T1s is a bit of a mystery but given the anecdotal frequency, at least, it seems to be something a lot of other college roommates don’t have any big problem with. It’s practically expected! :wink:

here’s a link to CDN

I always hear great things about them.

Thank you everyone for your response! Really helped me. When do you guys think is best to tell me roommate. Before moving in (in a text message), or in person? I’m leaning towards in person. But just wanted some feedback :slight_smile: