Roommate Horror Story
I recently moved into a single room, and while that situation has been resolved, I feel compelled to share my experience. At the beginning of last semester, I met one of my roommates—let’s call him Kurt. At first glance, Kurt seemed like a great guy, and we hit it off immediately, spending a lot of time together alongside our other roommate, whom I’ll refer to as James.
Initially, everything appeared fine, but my perspective changed when I showed my sister a text where I expressed appreciation for the cool pictures Kurt took of me. He replied with “nobody cares.” What? I was just trying to show gratitude! After confiding in my sister about how manipulative Kurt was, my view of him shifted dramatically.
After winter break, things worsened when James decided to move to another part of campus, leaving Kurt and me alone for the remainder of the semester. Without James around, Kurt’s behavior took a turn for the worse. He began yanking the sheets off my bed and even moving my entire bed for no apparent reason—an annoying prank that lost its humor quickly. Even when I asked him to stop, he continued.
Kurt was part of a fraternity (the same one my friend belongs to) and often brought his fraternity brothers over, practically every day. He also blasted podcasts late at night while I tried to sleep. When I asked him to turn it down, he would argue until he got his way. There were times when I had to grab his phone to stop the noise myself, which made me uncomfortable but felt necessary. On top of that, Kurt would occasionally use homophobic slurs toward me, justifying it by saying it was okay because he had a trans brother. He even started spraying air freshener and cologne on me while I was trying to sleep.
The breaking point came when I caught the flu and missed several classes. When Kurt checked my temperature and saw it was over 100°F, he pulled me by my shirt into the bathroom, turned on the cold shower, and shoved me in. I could have gone in on my own, but a simple request would have sufficed.
Once I recovered, my older sister and I approached the RAs about moving me to a single room. She was in tears as she recounted everything Kurt did to me, and though I didn’t ask them to report him, I successfully moved into a single room just a few doors down. It’s been a month since the switch, and I’m relieved about my decision; I rarely see Kurt on campus now, which is just as I prefer.
I’ve dealt with my share of terrible roommates in the past, but Kurt was by far the worst. In hindsight, there were countless red flags: the bed sheet pulling, the loud music, the late-night disturbances, the name-calling, the gaslighting—the list goes on. But the biggest red flag in a roommate is someone who blatantly disregards your boundaries, which Kurt certainly did.
TL;DR: My roommate turned out to be fake and a bully, leading me to switch to a single room.
Wow, that sounds like an incredibly stressful and unhealthy situation! It’s good to hear that you were able to move into a single room and take care of yourself. Kurt’s behavior was not just disrespectful but also completely unacceptable. It’s alarming that someone would treat a roommate that way, especially when you communicated your boundaries clearly. You deserve to feel safe and comfortable in your living space.
It’s great that you had your sister’s support, and it sounds like she really advocated for you. Moving forward, I hope you have much more positive and respectful experiences with your roommates. Remember, it’s essential to trust your instincts when it comes to boundary violations; if something feels off, it probably is. Thanks for sharing your story—it’s a powerful reminder about the importance of mutual respect in shared living situations!