Who sees you naked, knows your daily getting ready routine, stays up ‘til the wee hours of the night with you, sits and does absolutely nothing with you, can identify your weirdest and most bizarre pet peeves and habits and still choose to be friends with you? No, I am not talking about your S.O.; I’m talking about your roommate. Basically, you’re in a roomlationship with them and spend more time together than with anyone else. All of that being said, do you really want to room with someone you barely know? The popular saying “Don’t room with your best friend” may apply to those who probably shouldn’t be best friends in the first place, but overall, when choosing a roommate, you should pick whomever you’re the most comfortable with.

Being friends with your roommate comes with an abundance of benefits. They won’t be mad at you when you call them at 8 am to let you into the dorm because you forgot your key. They are always willing to drive to get ice cream with you when you’re having a rough day. They’ll go out to eat with you and spend an extra $15 on a real meal just to escape the dreadful dining hall food. They will even eat that pizza with you at 3 am even though they know they shouldn’t. Your best friend will forgive you after you fight about something irrelevant that comes with being together 24/7. They know it’s not worth being mad over and within hours, even minutes, you’re best friends again. Having your best friend double as your roommate also doubles your snack drawer and closet size. You can borrow things without asking and eat their food because you know in the end, everything evens out. You don’t have to worry about getting ready to go out alone or having plans, because they are always willing to go out with you, even if it takes 2 hours to convince them not to stay in and watch Netflix.

As someone who chose to ignore the prevalent roommate instruction, I can attest to saying rooming with your best friend is the best decision you’ll ever make. College is already a complicated and perplexing time in life, so why add to the stress by choosing to live with a stranger? Rooming with someone you don’t know adds a pervasive amount of anxiety to life. You constantly worry if they are going to take your belongings, what hours of the night they’ll decide to come home (and whether or not they’ll bring a visitor). You are constantly mindful of how you behave, especially towards the beginning of the relationship, because you don’t want them to generate a poor first impression of who you are. Basically, it’s just hard to be yourself and live like you’re used to because now, the most private parts of your life are made public to someone you barely even know.

Obviously everyone has different living situations they need to accommodate, and some best friends will never get along, but to simply not live with your best friend because of a silly statement you’ve heard would be a mistake. Your best friend will go to the ends of the earth for you, and if you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to live with them, don’t throw that away. Words cannot explain how blessed I have been this year to share memories with my best friend that never would have happened had she not been my roommate. You regret the chances you don’t take, so I encourage everyone to give living with their best friend a chance. Nine out of ten times you won’t regret it.