Coming to college is a major adjustment and one of the biggest changes is getting used to having a roommate. Having to share your shoe box space with someone else is a huge adjustment, but after a few weeks you adjust and you cannot imagine not having a roommate and these are the reason why.

1. Late night talks

Growing up, you would often beg your parents for a sleepover. Having a roommate is like having a constant sleepover. You can spend nights sharing your deep dark secrets with them, you can go on late night food runs and you can annoy the other person on the nights you can’t fall asleep. When you are sick or had a rough night you have a person to come home to who will be there for you during the best and worst nights of college.

2. Built-in friend

During the first few days of college, everyone is homesick and slightly scared of being out of their comfort zone for the first time. When you have a roommate, you have someone to share all the new college experiences with. You have someone to go to dinner with, someone to find new friends with and someone to go out with. You have this person who will soon know everything about you to depend on during the first few weeks and for the rest of the year. The best part is when you each go make new friends you can just add to your little web of friends.

3. Lifelong friend

If you talk to college seniors and people who have already graduated, you will find out that your freshman roommate is often your lifelong friend. In the beginning of the year, the two women who lived in my dorm room fifty years ago stopped by to see the room. What my roommate and I discovered is that they are best friends to this day, their grandchildren are friends and they were both in each other’s weddings. Some people even end up rooming with them after college in a completely different city. You may even end up rooming with that person your sophomore year like my roommate and I. I think because of all the experiences you share with your roommate it is hard to not be friends for life.

4. Someone to confide in

When you are constantly surrounded by someone, you suddenly have very little alone time. When you live at home you can always come to your room if you don’t want to talk about but in college, you end up talking about everything. If you are happy, sad, quiet or anxious your roommate will most likely know exactly why and how you feel about everything and everyone.

5. Someone to share with

Due to the fact that my roommate and I are both only children we had very little experience sharing anything. Sharing is, however, is an important skill that you really need to learn and a roommate will teach you that. From sharing space to food to clothes you will learn that it feels good to share with someone else and not be a hoarder.

The person you found on a Facebook roommate group or were randomly paired with during housing could soon become your best friend. You end up spending more time with this person than with any of your other friends from home. You suddenly can’t even imagine your life without your roommate.