I have been at college for a full month now, as crazy as that seems, and I’ve learned a few things that I didn’t even think of before I came to school.

Privacy is something I took for granted at home; I could close my door and be in my own room without anyone coming in. I could read aloud without disturbing anyone or sing to myself without a weird look. I, now, share a room. Every night, I go to sleep with someone across the room from me. Though it’s a hard adjustment, having a roommate is not the end of the world. I actually enjoy having a roommate quite a bit. However, I do savor privacy now, better than I did before.

When my roommate is in class and I have the room to myself, it’s a moment when I take a deep breath and relax for a second. Maybe read aloud or sing or lay on the floor for a bit, because I don’t have to worry about disturbing someone else.

On the other hand, I’ve learned having a roommate is pretty awesome. There are moments where we don’t talk for hours, we just lay in our own beds and watch movies in our own bubbles. Then we have nights where we’re bouncing off the walls, screaming, singing Adele and dancing like idiots. Having a roommate is not only fun, but also useful. We have classes around the same most days, so if one of us sleeps in, the other wakes you to make sure you get to class.

Learning to balance quiet time and social time has been a struggle, because there are some nights where I want to go out and be with other people, but no one else wants to. And some nights where everyone else wants to hang out, but I don’t want to. Learning to accept the quiet, the moments of privacy that you don’t want, is difficult.

It’s dual bladed sword, because I want quiet and privacy, but also loud, social times. There are days where I have to be ok with just watching a movie by myself even if I would love to be chatting up a storm and days when I don’t want to be social, but I have to be.

Figuring out that balance is a struggle, but as all people do, I’m learning how to deal with it. It’ll make me a more independent person, which makes the struggle totally worth it.