“Come on knock on our door. We’ve been waiting for you!” Not only are these playful lyrics from a 70s sitcom, “Three’s Company” but it is also a way of life for many freshman residents who are forced to live in an ever-so-spacious economy triple on campus.

Some of you reading this might think that sharing a room with two people in Kennedy Hall or Smith Hall is certainly anything but convenient.

But for those residents living in Speare or Light Hall, life in an economy triple exemplifies “roughing it” at its finest.

I am one of the lucky residents who were forced into the triple, alongside my two roommates. Our room, or our “box” as we like to call it, has become home to us over the past three months. Adjusting to this living environment has not been easy. Our room contains one bunk bed, one lofted bed and three desks. Although there is obviously enough furniture for three people, there certainly isn’t enough closet space. Between the three of us, we share two closets.

So think about this: three people are supposed to bring clothing to last them throughout the winter, which includes bulky coats, sweaters, sweatshirts and boots and squeeze them into two closets. You can clearly gather that I’ll be wearing the same pair of jeans over and over again.

Then, of course, three people have to get used to living with two other perfect strangers in such close quarters. One must adjust to the others’ schedules at work, class, or even an extracurricular activity.

Take my two roommates for example. One of them competes on the crew team. She’s up almost every morning at 4:45 a.m. This is not a pleasant hour for me or my other roommate. To heighten the dramatic tension, my athlete roommate also has an extremely loud and obnoxious alarm clock, which many times refuses to shut off.

One morning after she had already left for crew, her alarm went off again. Frustrated, tired and annoyed, I crawled out of bed and climbed her ladder to the lofted bed. I viciously yanked the plug out, but to my wonderful surprise, the alarm also ran on batteries!

Not only are there sleep issues but also “work” issues. One of us has a paper to do while the other one wants to play music, while the other has to watch a movie for film class.

The worst problem that has arisen in the past three months has to be the issue of guests. Due to the lack of space in our “box,” it is very hard for one of us to invite a best friend from home, a boyfriend or a sibling up to stay with us for the weekend. There is barely enough room for the three of us to move, let alone add another body to the mix.

To avoid being kept up all night by desk lights or computer screens, I took the ultimate step towards sleep freedom. I constructed my very own canopy consisting of dark bed sheets and flannel covering. Inside my own fort is complete darkness, which allows me to get some shut-eye when either of my two roommates are pulling an “all nighter” or staying awake to catch up on “One Tree Hill.”

I’ve learned to creatively cope with all these minute inconveniences, but one thing still weighs heavily on my mind. Anytime I visit friends in Smith or Kennedy my blood boils as I look at how spacious their forced triples are. By calling them forced triples I’m misrepresenting them. I should call them voluntary triples. I’d trade my “box” in any day for that marvelous piece of real estate. They are double the size of any room in Speare, and some even contain their own bathrooms. Now, I might not be so offended if my parents were paying less money for my “box,” but that isn’t the case, now is it? I guess it’s just the luck of the draw, and I got the short end of the stick.

There’s not much I can do about it now. I just have to sit back, wait and pray that next year the Northeastern housing gods may shine down upon me. Then maybe you can knock on our door and I’ll really be waiting for you.

-Kristen Oliveri is a freshman journalism major.