By the time room selection came around second semester I made up my mind: I was going to get a single. The whole room selection process is kind of like the Hunger Games really, all you can do is hope the odds are in your favor, no one else is trying to kill you, and your lottery number is as low as you can get on the dance floor. I was one of the lucky few that received a prime number, but not prime in math terms (at least I don't think it was). When the day of room selection came, I did it; I was victorious in getting my single! The world had suddenly opened to endless possibilities and premonitions of me eating a whole pizza on my bed!
Just so we're on the same page here's some background: Living on South Campus at Syracuse University has its perks and its downfalls, but mostly downfalls. For one, you are secluded in these buildings, which possess a great likeness to storage units, the bus is only reliable if you are punctual, you have to walk to Goldstein to do your laundry unless you live in Slocum Heights, and you come home to the same people even on days when you just want to be the only person on earth. When I was living on South, I made the realization there was not one moment I wasn't in the company of my fellow Orangemen. However, living with two people meant coming home to the usual 'How was your day? How was class? Oh you got an A on a paper? That's cute. I made a movie. I got cast in a show, and so on and so forth. Not only was the necessity of conversation when I didn't want to converse weighing heavily on me, but the realization of coming home to an apartment and going straight to my room and staying there got me thinking. With all of these factors in mind I found I needed to set my relationship status with roommates as: it's complicated.
Now you may be thinking one of the following: 1) Poor Julia, she has no friends and had to get a single 2) That Julia girl getting a single? She must be weird and anti-social 3) She must smell really bad. And you would be right! Only about one or two of those things but you can make the assessment on your own. You see I value my alone time. I don't value it because I want to do weird things like people watch or pick my nose I practice those things in public anyway. I like my alone time, and I think more people should. There's nothing wrong with wanting to come home to your own space, where you don't have to worry about missing a piece of clothing because your roommate took it without asking, setting your alarm so you might have a chance at catching the bus, cleaning up a bathroom, or being sexiled from your dorm room or apartment.
My close friends have asked if I'm going to get lonely and honestly I don't anticipate that happening. Loneliness is underrated. Besides the fact my studies and extra curricular activities won't make me busy enough, I am lucky to have friends living in the same building I am and who I'm sure will come knocking on my door to check on my state of 'loneliness'. I have no shame in living in a single for the entirety of my junior year. I am actually really looking forward to it! The thought of coming back to my room and just flopping onto my bed, walking around without pants on and not feeling judged, and acting like the proud old lady I am by staying in some nights just makes me look forward to it even more. And little things like worrying about room decoration and coordinating with someone else is not something I even have to think about. I am responsible for myself and myself alone. So when you get frustrated and down on your luck with a roommate who makes you feel bad about yourself, or you just come to realize you may be better off living by yourself remember: just because your dorm status is: single, doesn't mean you have to be.
