We’ve all heard the horror stories of the drug dealers, the womanizers, the slobs, the weird pet owners and the thieves. Roommates are like snowflakes; they come in all shapes and sizes. Unlike snowflakes, however, roommates get a bad rap and aren’t always viewed as special and valuable. This column is going to dispute the negative outlook most people have toward their roommate or roommates, in general. Even if you end up hating your roommate, there is no denying roommates teach you valuable lessons. They’re essential to the college experience, and everyone should have at least one roommate during their undergraduate years.
I’ll start with the first argument people make against roommates: “We don’t get along.” OK, yes, I know living with another person is hard, especially when you don’t exactly click. I’m not here to say that having a roommate is a sunshine fairytale experience. It can be miserable for a lot of people, but that’s important. Having a roommate teaches you patience, tolerance and endurance. You have to learn to work with another person’s schedule and lifestyle when you sleep 4 feet away from them in a dorm. Patience is an invaluable skill. Some lucky souls are born with patience, but for the most part, people have to learn patience and constantly practice it. Living with a person you don’t get along with, if nothing else, teaches and reinforces patience in one of the most personal ways possible.
The most important lesson a roommate can teach, though, is cleanliness. People in college are generally slobs. Yes, attending a top 10 public university is demanding. Balancing your social life, education, work and extracurriculars can be a challenge. However, there is no excuse for the mess people seem to create and reside within in their bedrooms and homes. I’ll admit I have a Type A personality and am a bit of a neat freak, so I’ve got a small prejudice toward disorganization. I was blessed with the cleanest and most organized roommate to walk the planet. Luckily, I haven’t had to share a room with mold and stinky socks all year. Many people, however, are stuck with roommates who don’t know that trash doesn’t take itself out or that laundry needs to be washed. Living with another person usually forces people to grow up and clean up after themselves, either from shame or fear of retaliation.
Living with another person prepares you for your future, too. Some of us are too scared to admit it, others are too hopeless to believe it, but most people move in with their partner or spouse in their 20s or 30s. That step in our lives feels far away now, but it’s coming a lot sooner than people realize. Learning to live with another person before moving in with your partner is an invaluable skill. You’ll already know how to compromise, be considerate and communicate when you have a roommate, and you can reuse those skills with your loved one someday.
Some people may say they don’t need to have a roommate in college because they had siblings growing up whom they shared a room with or dealt with often enough. They just want their personal space. I know personal space is important, and I totally understand wanting that freedom. I would still urge these people to room with someone they’re not related to for at least one year, though. Living with someone who isn’t a part of your family is different. It teaches you how to coexist with someone new.
I am one of the lucky ones because I learned a lot more than how to coexist with someone this year. We may tease and annoy each other incessantly, but when it comes down to it, my roommate Lauren and I have each other’s backs. Sharing a room with a stranger ended up teaching me about patience and cleanliness, but the most important lesson it taught me, or rather, gave me, is a real friendship.
Chasity Maynard is a UF journalism freshman. Her column appears on Fridays.
