As a freshman, move-in day of college can either be a scary or exciting experience, depending entirely on how much you've prepared for it. Preparation starts with packing up all your favorite tops and ends by saying your hardest goodbyes. Somewhere in the middle of that is meeting your roommate - the person who you will be sharing your living space with for the next 9 months. While some freshmen dorms are so tiny it feels like when you’re laying down in your bed you and your roommate can practically hold hands, here at Drake University, our freshman dorms are luckily pretty spacious, so we have plenty of room to work with. With all this room, it’s important to stay organized and make sure you and your roommate are on the same page. With that in mind, there are some benefits to developing this communication early.

For starters, it facilitates dorm aesthetic. A mini-fridge, an iron, a TV, a chair, a futon, cleaning supplies, a fan, a rug, a kettle, a Keurig – sometimes the list can feel endless. No dorm needs two irons, two fridges, two fans, two kettles, etc. That is why it is essential to talk and get to know your roommate beforehand. I only drink tea, while my roommate drinks coffee. We bring our separate items, but also organize who brought what we both needed for the dorm. Quite frankly, not one single roommate wants to drop money on all the big ticket items – it’s nice to split up the costs. You can also choose a color scheme, cause as we all know, for girls, this one can make or break your dorm room. You and your roommate want to make sure everything from the pillows to the posters on your wall match. Personally, my room’s color scheme this year is navy, gold, and white. It pleases the aesthetic amazingly and honestly, makes you feel a bit more put together.

Along with these, this connection can ease those “first-time” jitters that come with entering college. You’ll have an instant friend to walk to classes and eat with because college isn’t high school. You don’t all have a set lunch time where you go with your math or biology class, you must figure it out yourself and fit it in our own personal schedule. This can be daunting when you add in the fact that there're 5,000-35,000 other students also trying to fit it in their schedules too. You can hopefully both have an hour or so off of class where you can grab a quick sandwich or even sit down and chat in a dining hall.

Most importantly, you’ll have comfort like you’re at home. College is such an overwhelming experience that seems even more unnerving when you don’t know anyone. My roommate and I had been chatting with each other for about 5 months before we moved in together, and I can already admit that I’m weirdly very comfortable around her. It feels natural to just talk about any and every subject there is to chat about. I can wake up with bed head or come back from a shower in my robe and not feel awkward. We make each other tea and snacks, just like our moms do back home. She makes my dorm feel more like home than I would have ever imagined and it is such a great feeling.

As you soon realize, it’s very beneficial to know your roommate before moving in. Really, I would just like to say thank you to my roommate this year, who has already helped me through so much and accepted all of my weird living quirks. We have already made so many new friends together, but I couldn’t do any of these crazy first-year college experiences without you.