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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at ASU chapter.

Once a month? Seems like it can be handled…in retrospect. But in reality, periods are the end of the freaking world! Cramps, PMS, bloating, mood swings, you name it! What’s even worse is not wanting to be around anyone and being at risk of annoying your roommates or having them annoy you. I am here for you, sister. Worry not, however, because although periods are absolutely inevitable, syncing up with your housemates can take a little of the edge off.

Hear me out, when everyone is on their period in your home, it feels like the house may catch on fire or you might find yourself with a black eye if you step too much on someone’s toes. It’s a science that the women you spend most of your time with will sync up with your cycle, or vise versa. Syncing with your gal pals can be amazing, though, because there’s only one week where it’s awful (I’m being dramatic, like always) rather than going through the same rotation of whoever is on their period and who to avoid all month long. Some people are super cheerful, but let’s be real. WHO likes cramps? WHO likes having leak scares? Absolutely not me!

Four people holding each other in shades of purple
Photo by Vonecia Carswell from Unsplash
The McClintock Effect is used to describe how cycles align when women are in close proximity to each other for a longer period of time. While ovulation is different for every woman, syncing up is possible. Healthline conducted a study on 135 women living in a dorm to see if their cycles synced up. It concluded that their bleeding did sync up, but ovulation was varying across each person (Weatherspoon, 2019). Yeah, you sync up with your best gal pals, but could you imagine what it’s like living in the dorms with all girls? I hope that there are no boyfriends near when everyone is on the same cycle.

In my personal experience living with three other girls, I have witnessed syncing firsthand. Social distancing and staying home has only brought us closer together (literally and physically), so understanding how we are all on the same cycle is something that was bound to happen. We all know when we are on or are about to start our periods, because we track it with free, extremely helpful apps, but we also communicate with each other about how and what we are feeling. Sometimes we are just open about being on our period when we walk in the room and state it. That is always the best way to find out in the end.

Box and pads
Unsplash
I do have to admit that syncing up cycles is the best thing that can happen because then there is a heightened awareness of who is on their period, when we are bound to get it, and who to avoid (if necessary). Menstruating is unavoidable and something that should never be stigmatized. It’s normal for a woman to have this happen, but there are many beneficial health factors that menstruating has on women. Syncing up with your best friends is just one of them.

JP (they/them/theirs) is a graduate student at DePaul who enjoys reading books, playing guitar, and telling bad jokes. When they're not behind a book or getting a tan from their computer screen, catch them planning their next tattoo. Check their 'gram: @hanson.jp