Well, it’s that time of year again: housing and room selection. While most students have already picked a roommate, suitemate, or townhouse community, or have chosen to take a chance with random roommate, there are some things to be considered before moving back in this autumn.

I have found on this campus that most upperclassmen make the naïve mistake of rooming with people that they’re really close with. This is insane. Most people come back with, “Oh, it’ll be great! He/She is like my brother/sister!” Did we all collectively forget that we don’t live with our families anymore for a reason? I love my family, I also remember how annoying it is to constantly be in the presence of people who care about you to the point of smothering. 

When I go home, I have my loving family for a few weeks. When I visit my hometown, I have my amazing friends for short periods of time. When I go to Pace, I have a long-term roommate that I’ve set up rules and agreements with. 

Your “best friend” isn’t going to feel awkward bringing home lots of people if you, yourself, have been one of those friends huddling in her/his dorm room for all hours of the night last year. They aren’t going to know it bothers you to blast loud music at 10:30 a.m. (when I am sleeping on the weekends) because that’s what you do whenever you hang out with them. Basically, when you hang out with your friends, you’re on a mind and life vacation. 

But when you go back to your dorm room after a full day of classes, meetings, presentations, and events, you’re back to reality and probably just want to sleep. Thursday through Saturday nights are usually a lax state for most Pace students. But it’s more difficult to tell your roommate that you don’t want her/his boyfriend/girlfriend to spend the night when you used to hang out with them until 3a.m. You don’t have ground to stand on the way you would with a random roommate or someone not as close to you that sees you studying until 1 a.m. and then crashing, someone who knows it would be a huge burden to have a guest over on a Tuesday night.

And for commuters who are becoming residents this fall, rooming at Pace is not, I repeat not, a twenty-four hour slumber party. You still have to wake up at decent hour most days, be okay with your roommate getting up earlier than you, go to class, accept your limited amount of alone time, and mature a lot in terms of not getting all of what you want, i.e. compromises. You are both paying for that room; this means that you both have an equal say in what goes on. 

Remember this, don’t be embarrassed to speak up, make rules clear before you move in. Finally, realize that unless your best friend has lived with you for an extended period of time before, like more than two weeks straight, they are probably not the best person to be confined to for at least a semester.