I have a confession to make. I am at Mississippi State University because I liked the campus, proximity to home and intimate English Department. I also chose the college because one of my friends needed a roommate in Griffis Hall.  
I had heard countless horror stories about random roommates. I could just imagine the obnoxious snores, overflowing trash cans and inevitable squabbles. With my luck, I would end up with the rudest, most entitled human to ever step foot in a dorm room. 
What if my future roommate does not shower or wash dishes? What if she takes over my side? What if she invites her friends over at all hours of the night to blare music? 
All these questions bombarded me, and I could not fathom moving to a new town without someone familiar by my side. 
Of course, my teachers and family members warned me not to room with my friend.
They claimed the move would ruin our relationship. Sure, we both have English-teacher mothers and a love for literature. We tend to prefer farmers markets and movie nights to wild parties. Still, they thought these similarities would only make matters worse.
“You are going to despise your roommate regardless,” they said. “Why waste a good, solid friendship?” 
I would like to debunk this myth. Some people should not room with their friends, but sometimes, a friend can become a roomie and best friend, a confidante and comrade. 
My roommate and I have had little trouble since move-in day. We both like a cool room and relatively clean environment, and we knew that we agreed about the temperature and order before we ever arrived. 
We were also able to coordinate the dorm room. After a summer full of Hobby Lobby trips, we had picked out the best nightstands, lamps and tables. We share the philosophy that the more decorated the room, the better the dorm experience. 
As two people who need someone who understands stressing over a paper, we work. We can panic and laugh together. 
We have enough common interests to enjoy spending time with each other outside the dorm. Some of my fondest memories in Starkville involve shopping on Saturdays with my roommate or eating a shameful amount of chips together at Mi Hacienda.
However, we can also sit in the room for hours and work on homework.
We have nights full of late-night gossip sessions and mornings where we only say one sentence to each other. 
After a year of living with my roommate, I honestly think we have grown closer as friends than further apart. We can manage the friend and roommate obligations so well because we have a healthy balance of similarities and differences. 
While I am not naive enough to think that all friends will have this result, I do know that since I moved in with my friend, she knew about all my quirks. I knew about her likes and dislikes, her pet peeves and favorite Lean Cuisines too. 
That inside information helps when you are rooming with someone for the first time. Instead of blindly hoping I met a future maid of honor, I took fate into my own hands. My roommate did too. 
So, if you fear rooming with a friend, take a moment and think about that person’s hobbies and tastes. You know all about each other anyway, so use that knowledge to your advantage. 
If you know your friend likes to turn off the air conditioner on an already sweltering day, do not room with her. If you suspect the habit of smacking gum or telling dad jokes will get old, do not room with him.
If you are like me and think the stars might be aligning — if all the signs point to an endless sleepover with a friend turned roommate — do not let the skeptics stop you.