When I was a kid, I had to share a room with my younger sister for several years. Now I know how valuable that experience is as I went off to college. As a freshman, you have to have a roommate and you are required to pay for refusing a roommate- and as almost everyone would rather not pay the fees, they have to share a room for the year. For some, this is the first time having to share a bedroom or a bathroom with another person. Even for those experienced in sharing, your roommate is basically a stranger that you have to live with for several months of the year.

Cons:

1. They're never around- They hang out with other people or their significant other all the time, have a completely strange schedule for classes and work, or they just are never in the room when you're awake or awake when you do see them.

2. They don't communicate well- They have friends over without warning and you were sleeping or they have a boy/girlfriend over all the time and just watch a movie or make out with you in the same room. They don't answer your calls or texts at all. They like to listen to music or keep the lights on long after you've tried to go to bed.

3. Their side of the room is a mess- so much so that you almost want to clean it for them. It's not the laundry around the hamper or the unmade bed, its the disaster on the desk and the empty pizza boxes on the floor next to their overflowing trashcan.

Pros:

1. Someone there to talk to- you both agree that the Dining Commons has horrible food or that the teacher you have for history is amazing. You aren't alone in your room all the time because you have someone else nearby to talk to if you want to.

2. They help you remember the important things- like that history paper that's due tomorrow and you haven't started it yet. Or they remind you to go and get dinner, "It's already 9:30 and you've only had lunch today" and try to get you to go to sleep since you have class the next day.

3. They help you to keep the room cleaner- because it's embarrassing to have your clean laundry sit in the hamper until you run out of clean clothes and have to do laundry again, or to leave your bed undone if they could bring friends over later.

There are some good and bad things about having a roommate, but it's usually a mixture of both, and for all you know, your roommate doesn't think you're that great either. One of the best parts about sharing this small part of your life with someone else is that you learn more about yourself.