I smoke cigarettes frequently and am transfering schools in the fall and filling out dorm applications. I’m struggling to know how to classify myself. I am extremely thoughtful about bringing anything that smells smoky into my living space and would likely never bother my roommate with my smoking habits. I don’t want to mark that I’m a smoker and get stuck with someone who reeks all the time because oddly enough I am sensitive to the smell. I also don’t want to start things off on the wrong foot with my new roommate if they have strong convictions against smoking! And there is also the hope that I will smoke infrequently (if ever) at that point in my life since I hope to cut back/quit but don’t want to rely on that with the stress of moving colleges/states.
What to mark???
Well, these are interesting issues to consider.
The university where I work has become a completely smoke-free campus, so I am wondering if dorms will be making distinctions between smoking and nonsmoking students if smoking is prohibited anyway.
Even though you are thoughtful about your smoking habit, I guarantee you that you smell of cigarettes, maybe without even realizing it. I know all of my kids hate the smell of cigarettes and would notice it if a roommate was a smoker, even if he/she did not smoke in the house. I work with several people who are smokers but do not smoke around the office and they still strongly smell of cigarettes - it is immediately noticeable if one enters my area. Is there an option to mark that you are a smoker but want to be in a smoke free zone where smoking is only allowed in designated areas? FWIW, I am impressed that you are concerned about the feelings of your future roommate!
Here is a list of completely smoke-free campuses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoke-free_colleges_and_universities
Will these campuses even ask you to mark whether you are a smoker or not?
My son lived in a dorm at a smoke-free school. They asked about smoking.
You have to mark that you are a smoker. You can’t assume that non-smokers will want to room with a smoker.
When I was in college, we had a gal who didn’t want to room with a smoker because she felt a non-smoker would have cleaner habits. So she omitted the fact that she was a smoker.(She requested a quad for cheaper dorm rates).
Nothing but problems. Stephanie tried to smoke when the others weren’t in the room, and when the other 3 were asleep, and it always woke them up. The girls complained to us that their clothes, bedding and drapes reeked of smoke. One girl got in trouble with her parents because they thought she had started smoking in college.
They all tried to get her out of the dorm through the housing office, but the office was limited in housing spaces, so they were asked to wait.
They kept asking her why she didn’t say she was a smoker on her housing form. She kept saying multiple things: she hoped to quit, or, that non smokers wouldn’t make cigarette burns on her things. She didn’t make any friends and the housing office finally had her room with two other smokers who were in a double. These girls, were at first sympathetic with it, but then became angry that they were penalized because they were honest and now had to “share” a tiny room. She finally left the university at the semester break with few friends.
Be honest, don’t lie.
Quit smoking now when its much easier than 20 years from now and proudly mark “non-smoker”.