I’m an only child and that means living in a small confined space with another human being is almost unthinkable.
Reality Check: Living with other people, whether they are complete strangers or your best friends, is at times beyond difficult.
My first year of university consisted of strange men in my dorm room during the wee hours of the morning, that (bless her dear little heart) my roomie would lure in and take hostage. The men would often ask to borrow my pillow or fuzzy blanket draped with puppies, rainbows and choo-choo trains that I’ve had since the age of five. Their snoring was equivalent to the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
But I became accustomed to these foreign men (except in the morning when they’d walk in on me in my bathroom towel). My roommate and I didn’t really talk – ever – as we were polar opposites. I liked my fuzzy blanket and she liked her size negative four little black dress. She moved out after our month of bliss together and we never kept in touch.
So we’re half-way through October and what once seemed like a brilliant idea, moving in with your besties or the randoms you found on Kijiji, is instead turning into World War III.
Habits you thought would never irk you are now equivalent to the 2012 apocalypse. The toilet paper roll goes on the holder, not the bathroom floor. The stack of dishes is not the Eiffel Tower, so let’s think about washing them at least once every six weeks, shall we? The yogurt that has been in the refrigerator since the world began has now turned solid and smells like feet. And when you’re going number two, at least have the decency to open a window.
I get it, you’re annoyed at the kitchen table when they chew on their dinner. You’re annoyed when their mom calls every 30 seconds when you’re trying to study. You’re annoyed when their boyfriends don’t put the toilet seat down. You’re annoyed when they assume it’s okay to use your personal hygene products such as body wash and deodorant.
You’re annoyed when your wardrobe is sprawled across their bedroom floor, dirty on a Monday morning ten minutes before class. Don’t worry, only eight more months until your lease is up.
But don’t forget, there are also pros to living with roommates. Look at it this way: they’re not your parents.
Your closet expands by a billion. You never run out of shampoo. There’s always milk in the refrigerator. If you wait long enough, someone else will eventually take out the garbage. And there’s always someone to blame for your mess in the living room.
Personally, I love and cherish my three roommates. It’s always nice to have someone to come home to, tuck you into bed at night, cook you dinner, give you life advice and to create that home-away-from-home feel.
For some of you, eight months left on a lease seems to drag on like cold molasses. But for me it’s traveling like a cheetah on rollerblades.
You and your roommate(s) go through a lot. And whether you like it or not, they know quite a bit about you. They see you in the morning when you resemble a mixture of Frankenstein and Edward Scissor Hands; they see you after 20 cups of coffee, three tubs of ice cream, half-an-hour of sleep and a 40 page paper later. And they see you dancing to Whitney Houston in front of your mirror in your bedroom exactly when you think no one is watching.
Roommates can be difficult to manage, especially if you’ve lived the past 18 years of your life not having to share. But remember, they can also teach you the value of friendship, the virtue of patience and to hide your deodorant when you’re done using it.
