There are many urban legends around the country, some are more serious, and some are just so farfetched that all you can do is laugh at them. More than a few of these legends serve as warnings to kids and they are usually told by the elders in society. And then the kids go and spread the word. After that gossip does the rest. Some of these legends are very old, so old in fact that the time period in which they came to be is a mystery to most of us, then some are fairly new to the world and are still being passed around from mouth to mouth.
The legend that I picked was the Suicidal Roommate/Straight A Semester. This is fairly new legend that has only been around since the 1970’s. But nevertheless, it has made its way around the country and almost every college student knows of the suicidal roommate legend. The spread of this rumor seems to come from mainly other students and older graduated students who just want to keep the legend going. The first-place students hear it is before they go to college, either the parents say something to the child to warn them that its false and not to be fooled by some upperclassmen looking to pull a fast one on them. The second place it comes from is when the student is already in college. They will probably hear it from one of their fellow classmates. If it's not being told to them then the rumor is being told around them.
are many different variations of this rumor. All of the rumors have the same basis but when it comes to the fine details, that’s where the differences come into play. One of the rumors states that it has to be your roommate, and another says it can be a close family member or friend. Also, there is a stand-alone rumor that says if you witness your roommate kill themselves then you get a 4.0 but if you don’t see them do it, then you only get a 3.4. those are just some of the differences between these variations of the same rumor. The differences between these versions of the same rumor may have drastic or subtle differences. But the very interesting thing is that different versions of this rumor are passed around at the same school depending on how big the school is and the size of their student population.
Links for further research:
Woot:
https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-will-you-get-straight-as-if-your-college-roommate-commits-suicide
Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp
College bound:
http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/
Work Cited:
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp
Williams, Andrea http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/
Jason http://list25.com/25-most-popular-urban-legends-still-being-told/
Jennings, Ken https://www.woot.com/blog/post/the-debunker-will-you-get-straight-as-if-your-college-roommate-commits-suicide
Lucier, Kelci Lynn https://www.thoughtco.com/if-roommate-dies-do-you-get-a-4-0-793692
Image: http://paragraphfilms.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/dead-man-on-campus.jpg?w=545
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