Living with another person in the same room can be daunting. We all know that sharing a cramped room with a possible stanger and limited personal space is not exactly ideal. Rooming with someone is dreaded for a lot of people, especially freshmen. I came to college last year unsure of how I feel about living in a double, but I ended up having the greatest year living with my roommate! (We decided to room together this year too, so the fun continues!) Here are some great things about living with a roommate to get you all freshmen excited about your dorm life for the rest of the semester!
1. Impromptu movie nights
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Finished all your homework, need some motivation to stop procrastinating or sitting in your room not having anything to do? All these situations call for a movie night! My roommate and I would always have movie nights. It’s kind of our tradition. Sometimes we would watch movies on her desktop computer screen or we would claim the flat screen TV in the common room. We actually have a whole list of movies we plan to watch/rewatch together on our little whiteboard, and we’re slowly making our way through it! (Also adding more to the list as we speak)
2. Random late night/early morning (deep life) talks
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This happened to my roommate and I a few times, and they’re actually some of the greatest bonding moments we’ve had. Sometimes it would be us all ready to go to sleep (we even had our lights off), but all of a sudden we’ll be talking and next thing we know, we’re having a full on conversation in the dark for hours. Sometimes after we finish watching a movie, we would just sit there talking about the movie (or something else), go on a bunch of tangents and ended up talking about the philosophy of life. Great stuff.
3. Company
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Unpacking some of your duffle bags or suitcases? Organizing your closet? Vacuuming? Taking off your nail polish? These tasks may seem dull when you’re doing them alone, but if your roommate’s here, it’s going to make seemingly boring and mundane tasks ten times more fun! You can blast music, talk about your day and all kinds of stuff together while doing your chores!
4. Your morning call
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*Dreaming about class getting canceled*
*Alarm goes off*
*Snooze*
*Daydreaming about class being canceled*
*Alarm*
*Snooze*
Never-ending cycle.
.
.
*Misses super important mid-term*
If you have a roommate, you’re going to have someone to wake you up in the morning when you’re late for class/work or really need to be productive! (This won’t work if BOTH of you are ALWAYS lazy and obsessed with your snooze button.)
My roommate and I have sort of a tradition where we would wake each other up by playing a super upbeat song from our favorite musicals (WE ARE BOTH MUSICAL FANATICS). It’s probably the most fun and painless way to wake up.
*Hears song*
*Brain cells awakening*
*Dance to the beat*
Next thing you know, you’re out of your bed and jamming. It also puts you in a good mood to start off your day!
5. “Honey, I’m home,”
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Your entire life you’ve been on the receiving end of the “Honey, I’m home,” when your parents get home from work. Now you get to say that to your roommate when you head back to your new found home after a long day of school and events!
6. You get to share and borrow things
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What does it mean to have a roommate? Doubling the size of your wardrobe and basically anything you could ever need! You guys can share clothes, accessories, stationeries, food, utensils AND all that jazz when you guys are living together. Nothing is better than having the same amount of stuff and spending the same amount of money but getting ~double~ the resources.
7. Get constant motivation
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There’s going be those days in college when you just feel like trash and want to do ABSOLUTELY nothing. It’s very easy for us to just lie in bed, curl up, get nothing done and let our future slip away. Having a roommate there with you is going to make that less likely to happen! (Well, if your roommate’s a rational person and cares about you). You and your roommate could support each other and urge each other to be productive (or sometimes, relax and chill a bit if you’re a workaholic).
8. Push each other to improve ourselves
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After living with each other for a while, you probably know each other pretty well, including each other’s bad habits. The two of you could constantly push each other to be better versions of yourselves and get rid of those bad habits.
I’m the kind of person who always procrastinates on unpacking things. Whether it’s after a weekend away from the dorms, or just coming back after grocery shopping, I’ll procrastinate until I absolutely have to unpack. My roommate is very well aware of this and she tries to get rid of that bad habit of mine by telling me to unpack and put away stuff from time to time. (In case you’re interested, I’m SLOWLY getting better at it.)
9. Grocery shopping buddies
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Want a buddy to go grocery shopping with but feel weird asking a random friend to tag along and buy boring groceries? ROOMIE DATE! The two (or more) of you can go grocery shopping together to stock up on snacks, cleaning supplies and all that exciting stuff while having a great time spending time together and window shopping!
10. Immediate advice/decisions
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Ready to head out but unsure of your fashion decisions? Your roommate’s there to help you out! Your roommate is there to give you quick, last minute approval or advice on your outfit to make your life easier! This isn’t just applicable for fashion advice! It could be anything. Looking for a new laptop case and having a hard time picking between your three top favorites? ASK YOUR ROOMMATE! Ordering takeout food and not sure what to get? ASK YOUR ROOMMATE! Looking for a new show to binge? ASK YOUR ROOMMATE! Can’t decide whether you want to eat a banana or an apple tonight? ASK YOUR ROOMMATE! Wondering if eggs or chicken came first? ASK YOUR ROOMMATE! Having a roommate is especially nice if you are super indecisive (like me)!
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It is truly a wonderful experience to share a room and experience college with someone. At first, it might be a little weird, but as time goes by, you’ll understand each other’s habits, patterns and get more comfortable with one another. A shout out to my roommate, Alyssa! I’m so lucky to have you as a roommate! This entire article is inspired by our relationship. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to come up with any of these! Here’s to a great second year of rooming together!
(Fun fact: our Snapchat names on each other’s phones are “The Best Roomie Ever”)