I am not quite sure if it is because I spent the majority of my childhood hanging out with my older brother and his insane, tight-knit group of "bros" or because my first and very best friend since Kindergarten was a guy, but I have always been the type of girl that has more friends that are guys than girls.
Therefore, it is no surprise that when I was given the choice of choosing who I would room with for the next three years in college that I chose to share a 500-square foot suite with my two best friends: Connor and Daniel.
It is now three months into gender-neutral housing and there are ten lessons I have quickly learned.
- Traditional gender norms are completely false.
- No matter how much you clean, somehow you’re the messiest one in the group.
- They have to tell you what you should and should not wear.
- There is no need to buy an alarm clock because they wake you up in the morning.
- Guys seem to take so much longer to get ready in the morning than you do.
- Your closet shrinks in half because you can no longer ask to borrow your roommates’ “cute jacket that just goes with everything.”
- Your room will always be stocked with food.
- You fully believe in the notion of a completely platonic friendship.
- You become horribly aware of how much hair your head magically sheds.
- You get the chance to live with your best friends and wouldn’t want it any other way.
Living with guys is virtually the same experience as living with girls, but with a lot of added adventures. Who knows what more I will learn over these next three years? But more relevantly, who knows if my roommates will sustain me for that long?
