With decision day behind us, high school seniors are starting to make all their college-related choices, one the most important being the selection of roommates.

There are many ways to find a roommate such as social media, RoomSync, and mutual friends. Although most people decide to room with someone they don’t already know, others chose to room with someone they are already friends with. This limits the individual’s ability to branch out and try new things.

When going to college, freshmen should use that time to experience new things and step out of their comfort zone. By rooming with someone you know, you taken away the chance to start fresh and become someone who is authentically you.

“One downside (of rooming with someone you know) is if you’re spending a lot of time with people from high school you may not really branch out as much and end up staying kind of in a high school bubble,” senior Kaley Patton said.

By rooming with a friend, you isolate yourself from the community around you. You can also isolate yourself from the friend you’re rooming with. After spending so much time together and then continuing that relationship so strongly in college, the friendship you have will be tested and it might end up being the reason you end that relationship.

By rooming with someone you don’t know, you open yourself up to possibilities and you don’t allow yourself to reach your full potential. If you have a friend attending the same school you plan on attending, you can continue your friendship and still spend time together without living together.

Just because you’ve been friends with someone for a long time doesn’t mean you’ll be able to live together. Although your personalities may be compatible that doesn’t mean you live the same way. One might be messy and the other a clean freak. It more important to find someone you can live with than someone you like.

As seniors made their final decisions regarding college, they should take into account that this sis a chance to start fresh surrounded by new people and ideas.