After living in Lawrence Hall freshman year with a roommate I didn’t know until we met the first day of school, to living in Conestoga Hall with three other people my sophomore year, and finally, this year, living in a house in Oakland with five of my best friends, I’d like to think I know a little bit about what it takes to live in harmony with others.

Living with other people is—let’s face it—really difficult, even if they're your best friends. Think about how much better you get along with your parents after moving out from under their roof. Even though living with my five best friends can be extremely difficult, it’s also one of the most fun and ridiculous things I’ve ever gotten to do. Once you find a good roommate dynamic, things get a lot easier. Here’s a few tips for achieving that:

Just wash your damn dishes.

Really, just clean up after yourself. In a perfect world, everyone would do their own dishes every time they used them, put away their shoes on the shoe rack, not leave crumbs all over the counter and hang their coat in the coat closet, but sometimes that’s just not reasonable because your roommates are just as busy, if not more, than you are. Just do your part to clean up. I promise that the time you wash everyone’s dishes because they had to rush off to school and work will be made up for the time that your roommates clean up all of the popcorn crumbs and movies scattered around the living room after you have a movie night.

Give everyone their space.

Living with six people can get a little bit crazy and, in my case, even though the majority of us have our own rooms, it can be hard to find time to have peace and quiet. Just be courteous of everyone else and try to respect their "me time." And, for the love of god, if you share a room, knock when the door is closed and you know your roommate is in there, even though it’s “your room, too.” You would want the same respect, wouldn’t you?

Find time to hang out with all of your roommates together.

Everyone’s schedules are busy, but make sure that you find time to hang out with all of your roommates together. Some of the best times I’ve had is when all six of us find time to hang out together, even if it’s just drinking wine and watching “Forrest Gump” together on a Saturday night. You chose to live with these people for a reason; enjoy their company when you get the chance.

Find time to hang out with all of your roommates one on one.

Again, you chose to live with these people for a reason; make an effort to enjoy their company on an individual scale. Grabbing a coffee before class with your roommate you have conflicting schedules with or going for a walk with your roommate one-on-one when everyone else is at work is just as important as spending time with everyone all together.

Let people know when you plan on having guests over.

It’s common courtesy. This is their place too; even if you don’t share a room, make sure to just let your roommates know when you plan on having someone over, especially for an extended period of time.

Communicate.

I cannot stress this enough. I think this is the biggest problem that a lot of people have when living together. The lack of communication causes all of this built up tension that could have been avoided by a simple, five-minute talk. If something is bothering you, if someone hurt your feelings, no matter what it may be, simply take time to communicate with one another about it. And this doesn’t mean talking to everyone else in the house about how your one roommate really pissed you off two weeks ago. Go directly to the person you are having an issue with and resolve the problem.

Find time to be serious when it comes to talking about rent and bills.

Living with your best friends is mainly fun and games, but there has to be a time to get serious when it comes to paying rent and bills. We make sure everyone is reminded of when rent is due, and have a folder to place all of the rent checks ready to be taken to the management company.

Don’t make a big deal out of something that isn’t.

Washing everyone’s dishes that one time may seem like the end of the world, but, like I said before, it’ll be made up for the day you’re running late and leave a huge mess in the living room or kitchen. If your roommate forgets to tell you that their boyfriend is coming over, relax. They weren’t doing it out of spite. Just take a minute and think about whether you want to bring attention to whatever it is that’s bothering you. If it’s an ongoing problem, sure. If you’re just pissed that your roommate didn’t Swiffer the floor when they said they would, think again.

So there you have it. Living with people is difficult no matter what, but hopefully with these tips you can make the absolute best of your living situation, no matter what it may be!