I always thought, especially entering my freshman year, that I would always want to live with people while I was in college. I was blessed with two fantastic roommates in a very small space my freshman year. Because of the luck I had, I decided it wouldn't be too bad to add one more person to that and live with 3 people my sophomore year. I had wonderful roommates both years, but I discovered little things that I had missed about living at home.

Living with people, there are always little things that you have to change or compromise on to be a good roommate and make the living space a positive one. What many people don't know is that as you become an upperclassman, single rooms become more available than in previous years. I decided to take advantage of this opportunity for this upcoming year, and these are the reasons why I am excited to have my own space.

I can decorate my room however I want.

Living with other people means giving up this bit of freedom. Of course, you can decorate your parts of the rooms, but you can't have free reign over the entire space. You can't have large pieces in the rooms because the space isn't just yours to do with as you please. Everyone's things also need a place, so extra space cannot be taken up by your decorations or furniture. This is one of the things I am most excited for. The room is all mine, and there are nobody's feelings I have to take into consideration while decorating besides my own.

I can rearrange anything at any time without consulting anyone.

With the decorating, comes rearranging. Once things are in a certain order, especially when living with multiple other people, it is hard to change the whole arrangement of a room. But when it is only my stuff I have to move and I have an idea in mind, I can easily rearrange my room to find the most spacious layout.

I only have to clean up after myself, not 3 other people.

You would not believe how messy a quad dorm room can get, especially with friends always walking in and out. In a large room, there is so much space to clean, so much stuff in the way and so many people to clean up after. If you form a cleaning schedule with your roommates and stick to it, there won't be a problem. But diverting from the schedule even once can form habits and cleaning won't get done. I know I will have a much cleaner space if it's only myself I have to clean up after.

I can listen to any kind of music I want without worrying about bothering anyone.

If you have kind an accepting roommates like I had, they never will care too much what kind of music you listen to. But of course, anyone would get upset if you played music loudly while they were still sleeping, or cramming for a test. Living in a single, I will be able to play music out loud while getting ready for the day, while studying, and late at night without worrying about upsetting anyone and that is something I look forward to immensely.

I don't have to be considerate.

It isn't hard to be a good roommate in general. It just requires a certain level of consideration that comes with being a decent individual. That includes being quiet in the morning while getting ready for class, not turning the lights on when you come in late and everyone is sleeping, keeping your space tidy, keeping things out of your roommates' space and compromising to keep everyone happy.

Eventually, you are trained mentally to follow all of these unspoken roommate rules, but following them constantly can eventually get a little tiring. The thought of only having to worry about myself is very exciting. My room is my space and mine only. I won't ever have to worry about disrupting anyone or waking anyone up if I am being loud, I can have anyone in my room at any time of day and I can leave my room messy if I am having an off-week.

Though acts of consideration do give you practice living with people for later in life, it will definitely be nice finally not having to be considerate to two to three other people living with me.

Nobody will interrupt much needed me time.

I am the type of person that can't be around people 24/7. I love my friends and I love human interaction, but without significant amounts of alone time during a week, or especially when I am craving it, I will not always be as positive as I would like. It is rare in a triple or quad, even a double, that you can have a lot of uninterrupted alone time.

Your roommates will constantly be coming in and out, and thought most of the time they will be considerate of your needs, it is their room too. What seems great about living in a single is that when I want to be with friends I can be. When I want to be alone, I am able to go back to my room, unwind and think in my own space. This is the main reason I ultimately decided on a single.

Constantly being surrounded by a large group of people is amazing, but it tired me out emotionally. I think this slight separation will make me much more positive, calm and emotionally strong during my junior year.

My excitement for this single doesn't take away the love I have for my past roommates. Every experience we had together was very positive for the most part and I don't regret anything about the past two years living with them.

Roommates are often your first friends freshman year. They are the ones you can tell everything to. They are the ones you have late night talks with. They are the ones you figure out college life with. If you are blessed with good roommates, they will be a very positive memory from your college experience.

Though I am living alone this year, I plan of course, to maintain the lovely relationships I had with my past roommates. It is just time for me to start to figure myself out, and that begins with this new experience.