When going off to college there are tons of obstacles one may face. Some of these obstacles may be trying to figure out where your classes are located, will you be able to get to them on time, where to get the textbooks for classes, looking for different clubs to get involved with, but most importantly, the roommate. The person whom you will be spending the entire year of college with.

1. The Neat Freak

The one who always makes sure your side of the room and their side of the room is as neat as possible. That means no creases in anything. Bed is made, clothes are perfectly placed in the drawers as well as the closet. They might leave their pajamas on their bed, and the shower supplies on their desk, that way when they come back from a night out with friends, they can easily grab them and go. You walk in to find all their clothes neatly folded in the drawers, and the drawers labeled. Then the roommate comes back and says that their stuff was put back in their dresser and their shower supplies are in the shower bin which sits in the corner of the room. You simply state you would like them to not touch things that are not theirs. They simply agree, but it still continues to happen. There is a plus to having a roommate as a neat freak, if you are more on the messy side, they clean up after you.

2. The Party Animal

The one who comes in, in the wee hours of the morning from a night of partying. Hungover, screaming at the top of their lungs about how much fun the party was. They wanted you to come out with them but you have two exams the next day so you passed. You were sound asleep in your own bed when your roommate comes in they go and climb in your bed thinking as if it was their own. You then happen to wake up to your roommate snuggling with you, not wanting to let your warm body go. You simply try to worm your way out of the bed to use the bathroom to just get away, but they grip you tighter. Your roommate is now sound asleep snoring super loud as if the whole world could hear. Morning rolls around a few hours later and you could hear your roommate throwing up in the bathroom. While your roommate is still in the bathroom, you decide to quickly get out of bed and change so they could not make you late for your exam, leaving your drunk, hungover roommate alone.

3. The Messy Monster

It is almost a month into the school year and you would think your roommate would know how to organize their personal items. Every day you come in and see the moldy pizzas under the bed, dirty dishes from the food court, clothes all over the floor, the bed still not made, open chips with flies going in and out as they please, the garbage piling up with hairballs and other food items. You have asked them so many times to clean up their mess but they simply do not. You do not know what else to do. You seem to always end up finding yourself cleaning up your own side of the room as well as your roommate's side of the room. Your roommate often times would walk in and ask “why did you touch my stuff?”, which you tell them the truth and reply with “it was super messy and dirty.” You claimed you couldn’t handle it anymore and it needed to stop. Their roommate agreed but, the next day it was back to the same old messy room. They decided to go visit their family for a break, leaving their roommate alone to see what would happen.

4. The Study Freak

The one who is always found at the library for hours walks through the halls reading their textbook and stays up in the wee hours of the morning studying for an exam that is not for another two weeks. Your roommate always asks you if you want to take a break from studying and get some food from the food court. You kindly reject the offer and continue to study. Your roommate and some friends want to go out on Friday night to get away from school. They all head over to the dorm room to find you still studying and ask if you would like to join them. You simply respond saying no again but this time adds in “maybe next time”. Offer after offer your roommate gives up asking you to go out with them, and friends. They have realized you're too focused on school to go out and have a good time for once. After coming back one night from a night out with friends, they enter the room to see you are still studying after three hours. Some things will never change.

5. The Normal One

Well, no one is really normal, but when it comes to a roommate you may actually get lucky and have a normal roommate. The normal roommate is the one who will go out on Friday nights to have a good time. Hang out with their other roommate during lunch or study together. They occasionally have a messy room, but they always clean it up later that day. They study for their tests on weekends or whenever they have time, but not every second of every given day like others. They party occasionally but never get wasted every time they go out. They are the ones who everyone can be friends with; even their own roommate, sometimes you can tell them anything. They are what we call the normal ones.

Going off to college can be a scary thing for some, but oftentimes that is where one can meet and make friendships that will last a long time. It all starts with their college roommate. Everyone meets different kinds of people on campus and off campus. Just remember to keep an open mind and do not forget to have fun.