With the dog days of summer approaching, it's easy to forget that not too long ago, we were living on and around college campuses; some of us had apartments, some of us lived in our fraternity and sorority houses, some of us even picked up on the real estate market and bought houses of our own. But one thing most everyone had was a roommate. Or two. Maybe more. And with them came a lot of things we probably took for granted. Now that I'm home, I've come to miss quite a lot about my roommates, stuff that I'll be sure to appreciate again this upcoming Fall.

1. Waking Up To a Free Live Concert

We all know that student housing isn't the most spectacular example of modern engineering, evident in, among other things, the paper-thin walls. But they weren't so bad. I miss being able to hear my roommates sing in the shower every morning. Not only was it nicer than waking up to an alarm, but it was a great way to get free live music every day, something a lot of people will go crazy for.

2. Getting Strategic With My Food

They say that you can prevent Alzheimer's and other brain-related illnesses by doing crossword puzzles or playing Sudoku, but I much preferred the strategic puzzle known as hiding my food so that my roommates couldn't take it. It was challenging at first, but I eventually got better and better at it, learning how not to be obvious but at the same time be effective. It was a great way to keep my brain sharp, and now that I have no competition for my snacks, I feel like I'm getting rusty.

3. Dish Chicken

Chicken is a timeless game that people plan full days around, so why not get excited over the opportunity to be able to do it every day? Dish Chicken is a great variation of the popular game in which each roommate continues to let the pile of dirty dishes grow higher and higher in the sink without putting them in the washer (or unloading the dishwasher to make room for them) until somebody breaks and finally does it. By the end of last year, I had gotten pretty good at it, but I miss the feeling of suspense when stepping out of my room to see if I had won a round or if the pile of dishes was going to be a record-breaking spectacle.

4. Hours of Productive TV-Watching

Usually, I feel lousy and gross when I spend hours watching TV, but in the competitive environment of a shared apartment, watching TV is never useless. Our big TV in the living room had a better picture than our individual sets, plus a hookup to DVDs and video games…obviously it was a hot commodity, and when it was up for grabs stuff got intense. But if you could stake your claim on the TV you were in for a great day because you knew it was yours until you got up, and you were going to hold it for as long as you could. I discovered so many cool, weird and useless shows while reserving the TV that I would have never found out about had I not felt the need to sit there watching it out of fear of giving it up. I can't help but feel like I'm missing out on some of the shocking stuff I saw on cable now that I don't feel the need to watch it for six hours straight.

5. Having Buddies At All Times

But seriously, this is what I miss the most. Being away from a campus, it's such a pain to make plans, coordinating times to meet up and getting everyone together from all parts of town. I miss having someone to always hang out with, whether it be to get something to eat or just sit around and talk about useless nonsense. You can't help but become best friends with your roommates; living without them just doesn't feel right after a while.