For the first time this year, I am living in a room on my campus by myself. While my days of living with a roommate certainly taught me lessons that I won't forget, I'm really happy to have some alone time. Aside from having my own room, I also moved into campus about two weeks early, which is surprisingly lonely. I've enjoyed being able to do whatever I want, but unfortunately, my activities are limited.
I've been given a unique opportunity to reflect on myself, which I've appreciated. I've been able to walk around a nearly silent campus, eat by myself without judgement and spend time with my few other friends on campus. On top of that, I've gotten an adequate amount of sleep.
Not having a roommate is a strange transition, however. I'm not really sure what to do with my wall space, or the fact that I have two closets. I feel like I'm going to miss having someone to talk to late at night and hold me accountable for my homework, because it's kind of hard not to get things done when there's someone sitting across the room from you, working really hard on their organic chemistry homework or writing a paper. I'm also going to miss always having someone to proofread work or complain about classmates or professors to. Sure, that's what friends are for, but it's not really the same thing.
The room feels a little too dark at night, and definitely too quiet. it's enough to prompt me to call my friends, call my family or call my boyfriend just to add a little noise into an eerily silent room. My first night, the lock on my door was broken, so I was thankful there weren't many people around.
Even though I miss having people immediately around me to share things with, I don't regret my decision to get a room by myself, or move in early. The quiet of the campus is peaceful, which I know I'll miss as soon as classes begin, and the only sounds are the chattering of students in the dorm hallways, and the laughter as people walk by to class.