Everything you need to know
Dear Janet,
Here’s an easy question with a hard answer — I’m a neat freak and my roommate is a slob. Everything else between us is groovy, but it’s getting to the point where I want to throttle her every time I see her because I’m so sick of cleaning up after her. How can I save the friendship without drowning in her filth?
—Nearly Emotional About Trash
Dear NEAT,
What you need to do first is talk to yourself. What can you honestly absolutely not deal with, and what can you learn to live with? Right now, you have to accept that your roommate will never be as neat as you want her to be; pick your battles. Then, choose a few things to talk about with her and see if you can get her to agree to (and stick to) them; then you can try more changes. Worst case scenario, if nothing works at all, you can always try the old draw-a-line-down-the-middle-of-the-room-with-duct-tape. Or, depending on the situation, just take all her crap from a common area and dump it on her bed or in her room. It all depends how passive-aggressive you feel like being. But all joking aside, talking it out is the way to go.
—Janet
Dear Janet,
I’m a senior and I’m stressing out like I never have before! I can’t sleep, I can barely relax because I’m so freaked about my thesis, my finals, and what’s going to happen to me when I graduate. Help!
—These Exploits Never Seem Easy
Dear TENSE,
Did you know that CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) is completely free? I didn’t until someone told me recently. You can call them at 412.268.2922 anytime day or night, and they’ll hook you up with somebody to talk to. Alternatively, you can talk to the Career Center and Academic Development — the former can hook you up with some job counseling, and the latter can help you with some study and organizational skills so your workload doesn’t seem so overwhelming. Overall, don’t worry! You’ve almost made it, and soon you’ll be moving on to bigger and better things. You’ve only got a couple more months to go — keeping the finish line in mind is one of the most important things you can do at this point.
—Janet
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