In April, I made a decision that I knew would undoubtedly change the rest of my college experience: I signed a lease to share a five bedroom duplex with not one, not two, not even three – but a whopping FOUR girls.

I was excited to be living with these girls because although we aren’t the best of friends, we spent the better half of our last year partying at each other’s respective houses and decided that in an effort to make it easier on all of us we’d just… live together. We eliminated the need to sleep on each other’s uncomfortable couches in dirty, beer-stained clothes and brave the BRUTUAL winters to walk home.

Regardless of how fun and exciting this whole idea was, though, I was still scared sh*tless to share my life/belongings/food/drinks with four estrogen-filled, sometimes catty, often-drunk females. We’ve all heard roommate horror stories and let’s face it - with five girls occupying such a small space, I figured The Hills-esque drama was inevitable.

BUT, not to jump the gun (it’s only been about three weeks since we moved in!), things have been great. FABULOUS. I’d even go as far to say that I actually thoroughly ENJOY living with girls – and that having roommates (especially four of them) really has its perks:

1. You can swap clothes. This means you can borrow your new roomie’s one-of-a-kind vintage dress and send her off in one of your faves as well – with something endearing like, “If you spill red wine on my white dress, I know where you live, bitch!”

2. MUCH cheaper bills. After sharing a tiny-ass, extremely overpriced apartment with one girl last year, I have found that splitting the bill five ways enables us to spend less on cable and more on Carlo.

3. Impromptu parties/dance parties. Bored on a Friday night and there’s no drink specials at the bars? When you live with lots of people, just hanging out with the roomies feels like one helluva party. Invite over a few close friends and you’ve practically got a rager right in your living room.

4. Girls have guy friends…who can also become your guy friends…or boyfriends. Or just end up naked in your bed. I can’t tell you how many new dudes I have met in the last three weeks. Why oh why were these girls keeping hot boys a secret?

5. Discounts! Two of my roommates work at Ruby Tuesdays, so I am able to enjoy the Quiche of the Day whenever I please… at half the price.

6. Roommate dinners. While going out to eat is nice, staying at home and enjoying a home-cooked meal is nicer. Especially if one of your roommates is totally Top Chef material.

7. Someone is ALWAYS around. We all like a little privacy, sure, but college can often be a lonely place. With four other chicks running around this house, I’m hardly ever lonely. There’s always someone to go with me to WalMart (or the liquor store), watch old episodes of Gossip Girl on DVD or lounge on the couch with me as I nurse my hangover with a beer.

8. Even if we get annoyed with each other, we ALWAYS have each other’s backs. It’s kind of like this unspoken rule between roommates. When we go out and someone messes with one of the others, even if we aren’t the best of friends, we know the in’s and out’s of each other’s lives and that is reason enough to defend each other in the face of danger (or an extremely drunk, angry girl with an oversized cocktail ring).

What do you think are some perks of roommates?

[Photo courtesy of albright.edu]