On move-in day, I found myself trying to explore a campus that I had previously only visited once. I remember unloading my car with my dad and trying to navigate my dorm, all while trying to deal with the fact that I would be eight hours from home. After finding my room and meeting my suitemates for the first time in person, I remember feeling so nervous while I waited for my roommate to arrive. I knew her already from an RSO we were both in during the virtual year before, but I was much closer to one of my suitemates as a result of that organization than I was to my own roommate. And that made me really nervous.
I have never been good at meeting people, but moving to a new state for the school year and starting my second year of college in the midst of a pandemic was definitely not helping. When I finally did meet my roommate, the nerves I had expanded tenfold. She seemed like a nice person, but I wasn’t sure exactly how close we would be. I had it in my head that roommates were either best friends or completely hated each other, and I for sure did not want to have a roommate that I hated spending time with.
Flash forward to April when my roommate is one of my closest friends on campus. I don’t exactly know how that came to be, but I am very happy about it nonetheless. I know very few people that hear me quoting John Mulaney under my breath and then proceed to continue the joke along with me. I know very few people who will sit up until 2 or 3 in the morning with me to discuss a seemingly random topic. And I know very few people who encourage me in a comfortable way to try new things.
I consider myself very lucky to have her as my roommate. I have heard nightmarish stories about roommates gone wrong, but I haven’t had to deal with anything like that (at least not yet). I think she is super special and wickedly awesome. She is so passionate about so many things, and every time I hear about what she is up to, I can’t help but be in awe of how incredible one person can be.
I love my roommate because I genuinely think she makes me a better person. I don’t spend all of my time with her, and it is actually rare for us to be in the room at the same time, but I am so happy that I know her, and I can’t wait to see how next year turns out.
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