Remember when you were a baby freshman, leaving home for the first time, moving in with a complete stranger and not sure what the next year would have in store for you? Yeah me too. Moving away from home is scary! Especially as a little baby freshman who has no idea where life is going to take you in the next four years.
Thinking back to the time, I’ll admit it, I was terrified, but I got through it, and after a while, things became so much less scary that I forgot what it even felt like to live at home. And it wasn’t long until I quickly learned that home was in fact at SMC with all of my best gals. You see, I was one of the lucky ones who met her best friends freshman year, and since then nothing has changed. All of us lived on the same floor in McCandless within a 30 foot radius of one another. Within the first month of school, I discovered who my new sisters would be, and for that I will be eternally grateful. Now, even though we are all so extremely close, that doesn’t mean we haven’t had our bumps in the road. In fact, it was by a fluke that all 8 of us ended up living together our senior year. Originally, we were split up into two houses, but because many people dropped out, all 8 of us were lucky enough to be able to sign a lease together. Many people told us there was no way that we would all still be friends come senior year, we disregarded their negativity and stuck to our lease. After all, everything happens for a reason, right?
So, what’s it like living with your best friends in a house off campus vs. living in the dorms? Well first off, it’s a house; Not a small dorm room where all of your belongings are crammed into a shared closet and room space. We’re talking about a house with a full kitchen, living room, several storage closets, a laundry room, four bathrooms, 6 bedrooms and a backyard. Needless to say, the keep up and cleaning is much more demanding than swiffering your dorm room floor and wiping the sink, but I know I speak for everyone when I say that we wouldn’t change our living situations for the world. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the dorms, especially Le Mans, and I miss being able to walk across the hall to ask if I can steal a microwave ramen or a cute going out top, but there is nothing like walking into your house after a long day at school and sitting in the living room with all of your roomie-besties while drinking wine and catching up on life.
Most would think that 8 girls in one house is “hard to live with” or “hard to get a laundry schedule” or “sounds like a lot of drama”, but honestly, it’s none of those. Sure, there are some days when everyone needs some “me time” and doesn’t want to be bothered, but for the most part, we can’t get enough of each other! I find now more than ever, that I hate being alone. I mean seriously, living in a house with 7 other people will definitely make you realize how lonely it can be being by yourself, but sometimes it’s nice to be well and actually act like a student (only sometimes though). It’s times like Senior Dad’s Weekend, Kegs & Eggs before home football games, birthday celebrations, Wednesday night finnies, family dinners, slip and slide darties, friendsgiving, senior week or just having a day in the backyard on a nice day in October, when you realize that living in a house makes pregames, house parties, oldies music playlists, dance parties on the kitchen counters, dirty dancing scenes, and all that jazz so much more fun!
If you would’ve asked me the first week of school freshman year how much of an impact these girls would have on my life, I would probably have started crying and told you that I missed my mom too much to answer. However, now I can say with confidence that I would be nowhere without not only my roomies, but also, my freshman year roomie (Serena), Rome girls, and all of the other belles (yes, that’s you 18122 gals, edge girlies, dublin villagers, and those Le Mans angels who we have adopted) who have helped me become the person I am today and the awesome time that I’ve had at Saint Mary’s thus far.
So, ask me again what it’s like living with your best friends and I’ll tell you that it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me (besides choosing SMC of course) and I can’t wait for not only the rest of the year with them, but the rest of our lives! GO BELLES! <3