Dear Roommate,

I’ve always thought of myself as a relatively tidy person. I like putting my clothes away after I wash them and I will rarely leave a dirty plate on my desk. Like everyone, I sometimes throw my sweatshirts on the floor, but they always get picked up. I wouldn’t consider my room at home to be the world’s cleanest or most organized room, but I can confidently say it is in the 50^th percentile. Of course, if you ask my mom about my room, she will most definitely disagree. That’s besides the point though—we all know our mothers will never think our rooms are clean enough. I told you all of this information when we were awkwardly messaging on Facebook playing the roommate-proposal game. As we both know though, my clean streak promptly ended when I got to school.

I don’t think that I've really become a far more messy person than I used to be, but it sure seems like I have. Living in a very small space with another person is not easy, especially when that person is cleaner than you are. You’re a stellar roommate, don’t get me wrong, but your tidiness definitely makes me look like the messy one. You make your bed and put away your laundry right away. I, on the other hand, tend to wake up with the blankets sideways and my pillow on the floor. Not to mention the odds that they stay that way until I go to sleep are very high. When I do make my bed, it’s usually met with great enthusiasm from your side of the room. My drawers are always half open (it's for convenience in the morning, I swear!), and it’s a good day when I manage to make sure my shoes are back in the place where they belong. I think I have probably made at least four vague and unpromising attempts at doing laundry in the past week. I still have clean socks and underwear, so there’s no way I’m going to do it yet, although I will definitely keep saying I am going to.

I will always be grateful for you, my lovely roommate, who vacuums the rugs and sweeps up shards of glass from accidental bottle mishaps. You’re the only person I know who is able to keep their desk clean at all times and I give you serious props for that. I’m sorry for my three staggered alarms that will always wake you up in the morning (but will never, ever wake me up) and I’m sorry for forgetting to take the milk out of the fridge before leaving for spring break.

Everything from the past eight months aside, I promise you that I will try my very hardest to keep my side of the room clean (cleaner than it has been at least) for the rest of the semester. Four weeks can’t be that hard, right? I’ll learn from the best and take notes from the pro, which is easy enough because she’s only just on the other side of the room.

Love,

Your Roommate (the messy one)

P.S. I promise to take the trash and recycling out today! Definitely by tomorrow at the latest.