Roommates ­­— it’s the subject that, unless you move to school with a plan to bunk with a friend from home, can often cause the most worry when thinking about housing.

Will I get along with my roommate? Will he or she be clean or messy, quiet or loud? Will I be able to live with this person in a small, enclosed space for an entire semester? These questions, among others, are frequently pondered when considering dormitories. By the time you get ready to transition into an apartment, even if you have accumulated the friends you are excited to live with, the worries can sometimes triple in size and show you that you may be the roommate with the issues.

When I moved into the Peabody residence halls my freshman year, anxiously anticipating the first encounter with my randomly assigned roommate, I had many of the aforementioned questions in mind. While I consider myself a social person, I do value my time spent as a recluse and was, therefore, very concerned with the space issue.

Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones. My roommate and I were perfect for each other and enjoyed spending time together. While we got along well, I did discover that her tendency toward neatness, list-making and all other types of order helped balance out my tendency toward the opposite.

And, even though there were instances when we got on each other’s nerves and needed more space than the small, concrete box we shared, living together in such a space was a great for developing polite social skills and learning to appreciate different personality traits in friends.

Living in an apartment can sometimes deteriorate that closeness that turned out to be more beneficial than originally expected. When my roommate and I moved out of the dorms and took on two of our other friends to share an apartment together, I eventually realized, thanks to the extra space I was given via more room in an apartment, that I had contained many of the quirks that I once dreaded finding in a roommate.

I had to learn to be respectful of others cleanliness preferences, especially in terms of the kitchen, and become accustomed to others ideas of how chores should be done, how thermostats need to be regulated, how lights should be turned off, etc.

In short, I was able to let my lack of order reign free, not realizing how it may negatively affect the space of others.

Sharing space in an apartment, even though it has made me more independent, has also made me appreciate the time spent getting to know the quirks, good and bad, of friends and oneself.

So, just remember that a small space can be a positive learning experience that will teach you how to be a more respectful, polite friend. Trust me, you don’t want to be the bad roommate.

Stephanie Sadler is a senior in LAS.