I've had a roommate for the past two years of my college experience now, and I feel like I'm a different person than I would have been if I didn't have one. My roommate freshman year had a tremendous impact on how I treat and interact with people. There's a lot of debate about whether or not incoming college freshmen should be forced to have roommates, barring outside circumstances, and my answer is a resounding yes.

I'm an only child. Until I went to college, I had never shared a bathroom, let alone a bedroom. Living with anyone was a new experience on its own, and living with a stranger was especially daunting. My roommate was very reserved. We stayed on our own sides and often went hours without talking. She was simply another person in the space, but even that was something I struggled with. Coming into college, we weren't really sure what we needed, so we both brought everything we could. Our room was small, and with the number of bins, clothing, books, and other miscellaneous items we both had, it felt even smaller. We never fought, but there was often definitely an overall vibe of annoyance filling the room a good amount of the time. I always looked forward to going home over breaks and occasionally on weekends.

Even though I was really happy when I finally got to go home for the summer and have my own room and bathroom for several months, I can recognize that I learned a lot from my first roommate. There are questions that you don't even think about asking someone until you have to live with them, and you certainly don't realize that some of your living habits may be strange to another person. It wasn't until we were actually living together that I began to think about what we would do if my roommate and I were on opposite schedules, or if she went to bed significantly earlier or later than I do.

Having a roommate taught me how to compromise. Every weekend for nine months, my boyfriend came over, and we slept in the basement of my dorm building, because my roommate wasn't comfortable with him sleeping in our room. A lot of my single-roomed friends asked me if I was really okay doing that. I was never really sure if I was okay with it or not. It didn't matter. That's what my roommate was comfortable with, so that's what we did. I'm much more flexible now because I had these experiences, and I probably couldn't have gotten those any other way.

My first roommate experience wasn't great. We aren't best friends now and we weren't then, either. We tolerated each other, but maybe that's okay. I learned a lot about myself, and learned how to confront people. If nothing else, my desire to be on my own drove me out of my room, and forced me to socialize. In a way, it was nice to have some company as we both tried to navigate the mess that is freshman year of college. In a way, having a roommate, particularly your first year of college, seems to me like finishing your homework or exercising- it might not always be fun or easy, but you'll probably end up being a better person because of it.