As someone who has never had the pleasure of enjoying their own room, I feel it is safe to say that I am somewhat of an expert on living with roommates. Just in the past three years alone, I have had a grand total of eleven different roommates. At one point, there were three of us in a room smaller than your average Taco Bell public restroom. While some of these roomies became in friends, a lot more of them fueled anger and passive aggressive sticky notes.

Here are my top three tips to survive those roommate nightmares.

Tip #1: Good Headphones

Sometimes, you get real unlucky and end up rooming with someone who snores like your dad after a really good Thanksgiving meal. Like a broken lawnmower, like twenty airplanes starting up at once, like a gentle avalanche amplified a million times. Now, there’s nothing you can really do, unless you feel like a daredevil and actually want to break the news to your roommate that you hate them because their snoring kept you up all night. So, my big tip here is headphones and a good white noise playlist. My favorite so far can be found here.  .

Tip #2: Voice Your Complaints

If you don’t speak up for yourself, no one else will, duh! If you are like me, and avoid confrontation at all costs, try voicing your complaint through a nice little sticky note. Last semester, I had this problem where someone kept taking my sponges from the kitchen. One day, I could wash my dishes, and the next, I couldn’t. After I had lost four sponges to this monster, I left a bright pink note that said “please stop stealing my sponges” with a cute little sad face. Just like magic, my sponges never disappeared again.

Tip #3: Don’t Be Small

When the going gets rough, the tough doesn’t roll up into a ball and let demons step all over them. Or however that saying is supposed to go. Either way, you get the sentiment. Do not make yourself small just to accommodate others, and do not let them walk all over you. Because, they will if you let them. This is the most important tip to living with demons. Also life in general, which is full of other types of monsters.

Here’s to hoping you never get stuck with any demons. If you do, just remember that a lot of us have been there. And if you decide you don’t like my tips, just hang out with a friend, where you can both complain about your own monsters.

Featured Image: Retrieved from here.