One of the biggest adjustments for college freshmen is learning how to live with a roommate. 

      Although some people shared a room with a sibling at home, many freshmen enter college with no idea of how to happily live with another person.  

     I opted for a random roommate, so I remember that my biggest anxiety on move-in day was meeting this stranger that I would have to share my life with for the next nine months. 

      What I thought was important over the summer turned out to be just the opposite. 

      For instance, you don’t have to be best friends with your roommate to love every second of your college experience.

     Whether or not you and your roommate are a perfect match, there are some things everyone can do to maintain a positive and stress free environment in their dorm room.  

     I think the most important thing that every student should invest in before coming to school is a great pair of headphones.  

     If you have a roommate who spends most of the time in the room, your headphones could quickly become your best friend.  

     I’m not saying it’s important to avoid conversation with your roommate. On the contrary—it’s actually extremely important to engage in conversation with them. 

However, it is necessary to have a way to be “alone” in a room where you cannot be alone. 

     A good pair of headphones not only lets your roommate know that you are not in the mood to talk, but they can distract you from anything your roommate is doing.    

     While I highly recommend that everyone buy and utilize headphones in the dorm room, I also need to stress that the key to dorm room bliss is communication. 

       It will be so much easier if you and your roommate actually confront each other with problems, instead of being passive aggressive or complaining about them to your other friends.  

     How would your roommate know that you hate when he or she talks on the phone in the room or that you are not okay with borrowing clothes and sharing food if you do not tell them? 

     Turning your friends against your roommate isn’t actually going to do anything productive. 

     In fact, it could be really risky if word gets back around somehow.       

     There is no such thing as “perfect roommates.” 

I think even if I was rooming with a clone of myself I would somehow get annoyed.  

     So always talk to your roommate about things that annoy you. 

     Chances are you have some things you need to improve on too.

    Another important thing to know when you share a tiny space with someone is that you are not confined to the four walls of your dorm room. 

      There are so many other places on campus to go to give yourself and your roommate a break. 

      Most residence halls on campus have lounges available to students for hanging out or studying.  

      If you need some space from your roommate, the lounge is a great option because you do not even have to leave the building.  

      And a bonus of the lounge is there are usually cool people to meet while you’re there. 

 If the lounge is too loud for you to study, you can always go to the library to get away from your room for awhile and get some work done. 

       A lot of students choose to study in the Connelly Center, as well as other “lounge” type places like the Exchange or CEER.  

     Spending a majority of the day with the same person can be exhausting, so just remember that it’s very easy to get away from your dorm room for awhile.

       If you still think that being friends with your roommate is a make-or-break situation for the school year, then try to find just one thing you both have in common.  

     People can bond over the strangest, simplest things. Even if it’s just a TV show you can both watch together or a type of candy you both can’t stay away from, anything in common will bring you together a little more.  

     If somehow you and your roommate do not have a single thing in common and cannot stand each other, hang in there! You won’t be roommates next year and you may find that your situation brought you closer to other people.  

    I know a lot of people who are so close with their hall mates because they could not stand to be in their own room anymore. 

      Find the silver lining and remember how many other places you can be on campus at any time of the day.

    Learning to live with another person is not easy for anyone, but it will definitely have its benefits later on.  

     There are always going to be people in your life with whom you do not get along and you are forced to live amicably with anyway. 

    Just because you are technically “required” to be with another person in your room, you have so much control over how you live on campus. 

      Anyone can have an amazing year if they put in enough effort and remember these tips whenever all hope seems lost.