The Third Wheel In Your Own Room

At one time or another in our life, we have all experienced being the third wheel of a relationship. College was the first time in my life I experienced being the third wheel.

When your roommate brings their significant other it is difficult to detach yourself from a situation. Ideally roommates should be relatively good friends with each other, but when the boyfriend or girlfriend is brought into the mix there is the potential to for the situation to get awkward.

What I have found was usually when college roommates first meet it is assumed that they would be friends. When the third wheel comes around the rudimentary definition of roommate emerges.

Being a roommate in its most basic form requires respect from each other. The significant other sometimes will not give you that respect. College is the time for people to experience fun, and freedom all at the same time. When your roommate has a significant other spending a lot of time in the room there seems to be some social aspects of college that seemed to be miss.

You get less fun with your own roommate, and more of a taste of their own relationship. Whenever there are fights, you will be in them too. Much like a silent partner to a business you will witness the MTV drama unfold.


Natalie Janzuis, 20, a junior student at Quinnipiac University says, “I don’t mind when my roommate has their significant other over unless it’s too often because then it’s an invasion of my privacy”.

When it comes time to take a shower and that person is there, there is a problem. When the significant other is in the room when you wake up and your roommate is at class, there is a problem. Above all of these nuisances the most annoying is when the significant other begins to have a voice for room decisions. That’s when the line needs to be drawn.

Out of experience the best way to deal with this is to be honest with the happy or unhappy couple. You need to express your feelings and your basic needs as a roommate. Privacy is important. You must be clear about what you want from your roommate, and that it is fair that they respect your wishes.