There is no way to prepare yourself for sharing a shoebox with someone for 8 months, especially when you’ve never met the person. Luckily for me, I got to pick mine, and despite the fact that we’ve known each other (and have been best friends) since the second grade, living together isn’t what I expected. These 10 totally relatable roommate facts are what I learned in my first term at UW!
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You will never stop looking over your shoulder when you are changing.
It’s even worse when you both do it at the same time – talk about awkward! You get flashbacks of grade 7 gym class when you had just bought your first bra from La Senza and were trying to cover your whole body with your cotton gym tee.
2. When she calls her boyfriend and you get to listen to them call each other ‘love bug’.
I’m not bitter, really. Okay, well maybe a little bit. But listening to your roommate talk to their significant other while you’re on the other side of the room watching Harry Potter for the 11th time is kinda sad. It’s also kinda awkward because you’re not trying to eavesdrop but you’re just there.
3. Who is going to turn off the light.
The last thing you want to do is get up and make the trek a solid 2 and a half meters to the light switch after you’ve already bundled up in the blankets. So you end up giving each other the death glare for the next 10 minutes until someone decides to be the adult and just do it. This act is never done without another long and painful glare, leaving the other feeling very guilty.
4. Tagging each other in the funniest memes even though you could reach out and touch the other.
You hold your breath until you know they have opened it, then you both burst into laughter at the silliest things.
5. One person is always the messy one.
Okay, I’ll be honest, this one goes to me. Sometimes my clothes just end up all over the floor and I have no idea how it happens – really!
6. One roommate always likes to cuddle.
This one is definitely not me. There is always one roommate who shows affection more than the other, and things get a little weird when one wants to watch a movie and cuddle and the other puts a meter stick in between the two of you.
7. You eat every meal together.
It doesn’t even matter if you are hungry or not, you both eat your meals together. Especially when your cafeteria has limited food times, you both know when the clock hits 4:30pm you are eating dinner. I would never make my roommate suffer through the cafeteria food alone.
8. You slowly turn into the same person.
You and your roommate start saying things at the same time, wearing the same outfits, and getting into the same routine. Hmm, I guess that Waterloo residence roommate survey really works.
9. You know their schedule better than your own.
They text you ‘where are you’ and you reply: ‘in class and I know you are in your HLTH 245 lecture in STC 1012, right?’ You then have to make up some excuse about how you were just guessing so you don’t sound creepy.
10. You miss each other when one goes home for the weekend.
Miley Cyrus “I Miss You” is on a loop until Sunday night when you and your roomie are reunited. This is when you realize that having a roommate is the best, and you don’t know what you would do without them.
At the end of the day having a roommate makes the first year experience even better, even when they snore and you have an 8:30 the next morning. Share this with your roommate(s) and see how many roomie moments you relate to!