When I dreamt of living in my first apartment during college, I pictured it with roommates who turned into lifelong friends. I imagined endless movie nights filled with laughter and popcorn. Dinners would be made during dance parties in our pajamas as we sang along to Backstreet Boys and Katy Perry. I thought moving into my first apartment would be amazing. However, due to an issue with the friends who were supposed to become my roommates, I ended up starting my sophomore year in a three-bedroom apartment, alone.

While at first I was completely depressed and missed my friends always being around like they were in the dorms, it turns out that living alone isn't so bad. It definitely has its ups and downs, but I've found that having a whole apartment to myself has more pros than cons.

Pro: Any mess is your own mess.

The only dishes left in the sink are yours. You don't have to clean up someone else's crusty ice cream bowl that's been sitting in the sink for three days. Clumps of hair that wind up in the shower are your own, which somehow makes it less disgusting. Decide to leave shoes lying around? Pick them up whenever you want.

Con: You make dinner for yourself every night.

If you don't cook, you don't eat. There's no roommate to trade off cooking dinners with you or someone to help make it fun. Sure, you can turn on some music and dance around, but there's no roommate to be the back-up singer and play air guitar. Sometimes you have no energy to create an elaborate dinner of spaghetti and pasta sauce just to eat by yourself in front of the television. Frozen pizzas become your best friend.

Pro: You can have anyone you want over at any time.

No clearing it with your roommates before you invite friends over to watch that long awaited season premiere of "Once Upon a Time." If you decide to bring a guy home (if you're single) or have your boyfriend come visit for the weekend, there's nobody around to tell you they're not okay with a member of the opposite sex sleeping over. A Cards Against Humanity tournament at 3 a.m.? Go for it. Nobody is telling you to go to sleep because they have a giant exam the next day.

Con: It gets lonely.

Let's be real. Unless you're someone who really enjoys alone time, living alone is lonely. You don't have someone to binge watch Netflix with and going out to a party seems like a ton of effort since there isn’t anyone to get ready with. You actually wind up studying since there’s no one to ask you to go on an impromptu run to Target or CookOut. Coming home to an empty house sometimes sucks. There's no roommate to make you feel better if your day didn't go well. That cheering up is up to you, and chocolate.

Pro: Decorate however you want.

Planning to move in to an apartment is tedious. You have the necessities like silverware and cleaning supplies, but there’s also the issue of coordinating decorations with roommates. What if they don’t like your favorite picture of Paris that you want to hang over the couch? If you don’t have roommate, there isn’t anyone to clear decorations with. You can make the entire apartment your own.

Con: You pay for everything yourself.

Not having roommates to share the cost of living with makes things not so fun. You don't get financial help with restocking paper towels or toilet paper. Any food you buy isn't split between three people, so if those apples go rotten before they're eaten, that's your money being wasted. Lightbulbs going out in the kitchen, cleaner needing to be bought for the bathroom, it's all on you to buy.

Living without roommates, especially during my college years, isn’t what I had in mind for myself. But you know what? I wouldn’t change it. Being by myself has given me a new perspective on what it means to be an adult, which I love. Though, if I end up with roommates next year, I’ll embrace that companionship. Because every experience, mainly an apartment in college, is better when you get to share it with someone.