The transition from high school to college is exciting, scary, fun, sad, and memorable all at the same time.Teenagers are eager to experience life away from home, without having anyone to tell you to clean your room or do your homework, while parents try unsuccessfully to keep their child from growing up and moving on. Perhaps one of the most nerve-racking aspects for both of these parties, however, is the roommate. Students wonder, what if I get stuck with the nerd, or someone who sleeps with the lights on? While parents worry about the kind of influence their child’s roommate will have on their precious child.
I remember sitting at home talking on AIM when I received an instant message from a screen name I didn’t recognize. I accepted, saw the words, “Hey, I’m your roommate!” and froze. I hadn’t been able to get on the website for a few days so I didn’t know that the assignments had been posted. My future-roomie and I chatted for a few minutes and exchanged email addresses and phone numbers (I’m still not exactly sure how she got my screen name…I’ll have to ask her about that).
I was a little hesitant because in her first email she said that she was going to be a Mechanical Engineer. I could only picture the stereotypical Cornell female-engineer, one who spent their weekends in the library and could care less about make-up, boys, or clothes. We did have some similarities, though, in that we are both the oldest child, with sisters who are two years younger than us. Because we were both the oldest, I felt like we could bond over being the first to leave home.
However, after browsing (okay, extensively analyzing) her Facebook over the next few weeks I decided that she seemed like a fairly normal girl. Facebook throws a curveball since it is not solely text-based. There are pictures to be viewed and wall posts to be read. This, more than e-mailing, allowed me to learn about my future roommate.
When I met my roommate on move-in day, she was a ball of energy. She was definitely the most talkative engineer I’ve ever met and we had a lot of common interests. We clicked right away and became really good friends. I think my experience best fits with the Uncertainty Reduction Theory because I liked my roommate a lot more after I met her and gathered more information about her. It also works with hyperpersonal because of the judgments I had made with what little information I had originally. Meeting her face-to-face allowed me to see the big picture.
3 comments:
I liked reading about your experience with meeting your roommate (I however was not blessed with a roommate my freshman year). With technology advancing it’s so much easier to find information about and communicate with other people. Getting to meet your roommate before you actually move in seems like it would make the transition so much easier, and less awkward. I think your story is a great example of the URT. Also reading through your post made me think of how we actually use the theories we’ve learned in class without even knowing it. You really got me thinking about how we tie all these different cues together to formulate impressions online. Nice post, Gretchen!
Wow, this reminds me of my pre-first-days-in-Cornell experience. My roommate didn't have a profile on the site so I couldn't find him or his email. (I learned the trick to do that--through housing-- later in the game, but not before moving in =.=). I was able to contact one of my other townhousemate, who seems to be a nice guy and good cook and appreciate Asian Culture -- I confirmed this after meeting the man in person. That's some SIP I suppose. As for my roommate, he is a socialble person trying to be antisocial and "independent", and I'm the other way around. I think that's just irony.
Great post by the way. Just one thing to point out, they usually want your technical content to be around 1/2 the paper (donno how you can do that with the 400 words limit).
Hey Gretchen,
Very interesting post! An experience we can all relate to. It’s very interesting that your experience not only fits in with the Uncertainty Reduction Theory, but also Hyperpersonal Theory. You had over-attributed negative aspects of this girl online (the fact that she was a stereotypical Cornell engineer), and then, upon meeting, your impression was enhanced, rather than made worse, due to the direction of the initial over-attribution. Also, the two of you interacted through media with progressively increased cues: first AIM, then facebook, and finally, Face-to-Face. I wonder how that may have influenced your perceptions? I also wonder what sort of research this girl did on you before she actually contacted you.
Great post,
Christina
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