The best thing about first year is that everyone is your friend—that guy in your history class, the girl in the cafeteria, your next-door neighbour, and the security guard you high-five everyday before going to class. Being a newbie in an unfamiliar place can be scary, but it is also an excuse to approach anyone and strike up a conversation, knowing that they are just as clueless and nervous as you are. It’s a complete free-for-all: no cliques, no gossip girls, no bullies, and no crazies. Every person you see is potential friendship material.

However, not everyone can be friends with the world like Mr. Rogers or Oprah. As the year progresses, you might realize that your next-door neighbour and the cafeteria girl aren’t quite your cup of tea.  As your friend count slowly dwindles after Frosh, finding the right roommates for the next few years becomes an issue. If you just met the person, how can you know you can trust them enough to share a bathroom? After first year, you are expected to move out of dorms and into real-world apartments. By April, every freshman has to trade in their meal plans for grocery shopping lists. Next thing you know, you’re cooking yourself Kraft dinners and paying bills.

If you think picking roommates is a precarious process, what if the final living situation doesn’t work out? Who moves out and who moves in? I can tell you from recent experience that replacing roommates is as awkward as it gets. One of my roommates decided to transfer out of McGill at the end of last year, so my remaining roommate and I asked around and raided both Craigslist and Montreal Kijiji in the hopes of finding the perfect third in our trio. This sticky dilemma can definitely put a strain on friendships, so here is my guide to making the situation as smooth as possible.

Before committing yourself to your new roommates on paper, it’s always a good idea to lay down some ground rules in case of potential breakups. When signing a lease, you don’t think about the probability of one of your roommates bailing out before your apartment contract ends. In my case, this led to arguments about who would pay the remaining part of the rent each month. Make sure to settle on some agreement that all of you will pay rent until your contract ends. That way, if someone moves out, responsibility for that person’s rent won’t be yours.

If a stranger from Craigslist is not your thing, and you would prefer to move into a different apartment altogether, don’t rush into selling your place too fast in order to avoid next month’s rent. Remember, apartment hunting is a dog-eat-dog world and it’s every person for themself. I cannot stress enough the number of times an apartment was snatched out from under us last minute. Avoid the possibility of ending up homeless,  like we almost did twice. Plan in advance if you want to move out, and make sure to find people to transfer your old lease to before signing another one.

If another friend replaces your old roommate, keep in mind that this is a tricky and touchy transition. I am just getting used to the new vibe in our house. There are positive sides to this situation. A new roommate brings great new furniture for the apartment and some extra silverware you so desperately need. A new fresh face is always exciting, and in my case, we’ve inherited a great cook, which means no more ten-minute meals for me.

It’s probably best if you don’t make your new roomie feel like a fallback plan and your old one feel like they never existed. The switch is probably harder for your just-departed roommate than it is for you. A good balance of mixed emotions is the way to go when approaching this fragile situation.

Last, but not least, you’ll probably have to adapt to your new roommate’s quirks. So maybe you can’t walk around unclothed anymore because your roommate’s boyfriend is sleeping over, or maybe you’ll have to deal with your roommate’s obsession with French cheese stinking up the place. But isn’t that just part of the experience of having a roommate? Sharing your private space can get tricky and awkward at times, but as roommates come and go, the friendships you gain from the experience grow even stronger.