Everyone hears stories about bad roommates, but you never really know what it's like to have one until you actually go through the pain of living with someone who is so inconsiderate that it makes your skin crawl thinking about it. I've compiled a list of all the things that make me and my friends angry about living in the dorms, so take into consideration these tips of what not to do when living in the dorms if you don't want to be the absolute worst roommate ever.

1. Turn all the lights on when your roommate is sleeping

If your roommate is sleeping and you come into the room at 2 a.m., be kind and courteous to them by NOT turning on the lights. There's this nifty little thing on your phone called a flashlight and it is just as effective as turning on all the lights in the room and disrupting your roommate's sleep.

2. Walk into an elevator before checking if someone needs to get off

This is probably my biggest pet peeve ever. If you begin to walk onto an elevator without letting the people in it get off first, you are the worst type of human; it's annoying and rude and makes things much more complicated than they need to be. So even when you're tired from class and just want to rush into your bed to nap, make sure to wait the extra two seconds for people to get off the elevator before you get on.

3. Smoke cigarettes in the bathroom in the middle of the night

If you want to smoke and kill your lungs, that is totally up to you. But the thing I won't stand for is chain smoking cigarettes in the bathroom in the middle of the night, therefore clogging up everyone else on your floors' vents and giving them second hand smoke inhalation. It's probably the most disgusting smell ever, and it's so frustrating to walk into the bathroom at night and have to plug your nose the whole time.

4. Talk on the phone while your roommate is sleeping

Just don't. It's alright if you need to take a call, just step out of the room or go down to the end of the hall so that you can leave your roommate resting in peace.

5. Bring your boyfriend/girlfriend to your room every weekend

If you want to bring your girlfriend/boyfriend up to visit on occasion, that’s probably fine as long as you check with your roommate. But if it gets to be unannounced visits and nearly every weekend, it needs to stop. No one wants a stranger living in their room, all up in their business all the time – especially if they bother your roommate and cause them not to be able to go on normally with their life.

6. Eat their food without permission

They bought that food for a reason – for them to eat it. Even if it's super tempting, leave it be. If you really want it, they would probably let you have it. If they say no, go and buy your own. It doesn't hurt to indulge a little bit.

7. Leave your stuff all over your roommate's side of the room

Each of you has your own sides of the room, so keep it that way. If you want to be super messy on your side, that's totally cool until it bleeds into your roommate's side of the room. Then things could get ugly. Just be considerate of your roommate's space and stay out of it.

8. Leave the door unlocked during the night

Sure, the odds of your room getting broken into out of all the rooms in your building are slim, but you never know what could happen. It is such a simple thing to do, so if you are the last one into the room for the night just make sure to take the little extra effort to spin the lock into place for your roommate's sanity.

9. Take hour long showers

If your rooms are suite-style like mine were, then there is one bathroom for four people. Everyone needs to shower at some point and it's not cool when all the hot water is gone. That may fly at home, but there are other people who are on tight schedules too who probably don't enjoy getting frostbite when they shower.

10. Make passive aggressive comments to them and make everything uncomfortable

This is just plain weird, and it makes for a very awkward roommate dynamic. If you are constantly saying rude comments but aren't ever up front with your issues, how are they ever going to get resolved? Just chill out and be cool. Stop acting like everything is alright and be an adult about it. Just be a nice person too, you don't need to make stupid little comments at them.

All of these things may seem easy and obvious to you if you are a decent and considerate person, but for the people who only think about themselves and don’t take into any thought how their roommate might feel if they act a certain way, this article is for you. Please try to be a decent roommate so that you don't ruin anyone's freshmen year.