Tis the season for many roommate goodbye articles! However, for most of my first two semesters, I've lived in a single room by myself. I enjoyed having a roommate while I did (Miss you, Meaghan!), but I've learned a lot about being an adult while living by myself in my single room.
1. A Clean Room is a Happy Room:![]()
I’m notorious for being the messiest person in the world. I hate doing the dishes, laundry is the bane of my existence, and nothing I own has a specific place it belongs. When living at home, I could get by with doing these cleanliness things as little as possible. While living in a tiny dorm, I’d put these things off until next thing I know, I have no dishes, no clothes, and I have no idea where anything is. It doesn’t really work out. For the short-lived time that I had a roommate, it was so much easier to keep clean because we each had our jobs to keep the room neat. By myself? It’s almost impossible! I have to take an entire day out of my weekend to clean and by the end, I feel so much better, but sad because I know it won’t last very long.
2. Old School Alarm Clocks are a Godsend:![]()
I’m not a morning person. It takes a lot for me to wake up in the morning because no matter what I’m doing, I can assure you that I would rather be asleep. When there are other people around, their movement or their alarms could help me wake up. While living by myself, it’s been a real challenge to figure out how to get up and stay up. My holy grail: the old school twin bell alarm clock. But even with that, I have to place it across the room and it goes off after several alarms on my phone have already gone off.
3. Silence is Golden:
In a performing arts school, there’s always noise happening. Everywhere from the halls of our main building to the hallways of our dorms. There’s always a song we’re learning or choreography to learn or a monologue to memorize. I’m constantly in my room reciting lines or playing music, but when it’s time to shut everything off, there’s not a more beautiful sound than that of absolute silence. I always used to be the person who has to always have some sort of music, otherwise it would drive me crazy. As I’m nearing the end of my second semester, there’s nothing I love more than the quiet of my room.
4. It's an Introvert’s Heaven:
After a very long day of working with my peers and socializing at breaks, I am exhausted. As an introvert, long periods of time with other people can be incredibly draining. Having a space of my own to escape is probably the best thing in the whole world. There’s no pressure of socializing even more with a roommate or having to talk to anyone else. I can enjoy my alone time whenever I want.
5. I Totally Got This:![]()
There are times where things go incredibly wrong, but at the end of the day, I can handle the situation. I am a strong independent woman who can totally accomplish whatever I want to accomplish. I can totally pick up the glass I dropped, even if I have to cry about it for a solid half an hour. Of course, I can wash my bedding, I may not do it as often as any sanitary person should (those couple dollars for laundry are precious) but it’ll get done!
Living by myself has given me a little more hope that I’ll be a decent adult once I graduate! But, I've still got a solid 4 weeks until this ones over, so here's to more adulting by myself!
