No matter how prepared we were when we started college, there was always something in our heads that told us we did not want a roommate. Living with someone else who is sleeping less than six feet away from us seemed completely gross and unnecessary.
Our parents kept on saying things like:
"You need the experience," or "my first college roommate turned out to be a life-long friend!"
With all of the stories, we've heard entitled, "My Roommate from Hell," it was hard to be excited about a total stranger who may potentially steal our Ramen Noodles and EasyMac. I mean, how many nights with the old sock-on-the-door-handle move could we actually take before confronting them?
Regardless of the many (somewhat rational) fears, there will always be some special things we'll always be grateful for.
1. The personal alarm clock
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Whether we forgot to set the alarm, or it just "did not go off," they saved us...even if it wasn't the most comforting wake-up call. When we are only allowed 4 absences per course and the class meets at 8:00 am, we often contemplated if we truly needed this so-called "education." Luckily, our roommates had our backs.
2. The wing-man attempts
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For all of the support to get some much-needed action after a long week of classes, they were of our assistance. They noticed far too often how much we stared at the cutie from down the hall whom we constantly rode the elevator with. Little encouragements just to go speak to them may have seemed like nothing, but they were harder than we thought they'd be.
3. Or the complete opposite.
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For when that one person didn't leave us alone, the roomie always pulled through once we shot that SOS text. The drunk guy who wanted to come back to our room for a "night cap" wasn't really invited up for one. The roommate was a great c**k-block when she sat in between us on the couch, or pretended to have a meltdown to make him uncomfortable. Frequently receiving "A's" for effort.
4. Netflix binge-watch buddy
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It was always nice to have that one person who will sit and watch an entire eight-season series with us...in one day. The show could have been anything from "Breaking Bad," to "Glee," to "Dance Moms," all the way to "OITNB"... it was a great opportunity to bond with them and observe how they connect and/or relate to our favorite characters.
5. Too close, but with comfort
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Sometimes, our quality talks in the community shower were way better than a boring chat in the common room when we had to confront them about not doing their dishes. We vented about our creepy professors and the cute kid that sat behind us in Chem...all (usually) while naked. We laughed way too much and gossiped about ridiculous things, but it was time well-spent, my friend.
6. Always had someone to eat with
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Even if we weren't that hungry, we still ate. #Freshman15 ... We were huge fans of Pizza and Chinese Food Delivery. In fact, we would have in-depth conversations about which is better - Pizza Hut or Domino's. We learned their favorite toppings on their personal (large) pizza and we learned how much Chicken and Broccoli was too much for one meal.
7. They put up with our crazy friends when they came to visit for the weekend
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Of course, moving to college is going to spark some distance-related emotions. Our best friend(s) and us constantly tried to plan for a weekend when we all could get together, get drunk, talk about hoe stuff, and how much we hate school. While our friends were over, our roommate had a permanent "grumpy cat" face and we didn't want to address it until we were awake/sober enough to say sorry. On Sundays, we asked for forgiveness and promised it wouldn't happen again for a long, long time.
8. Consoled us during our meltdowns
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Our roommate was there to hold our head when we highly considered dropping out of school to become strippers because no matter how hard we studied, we still failed that first exam. Thank them for forcing me to do that Bio homework and to keep practicing my World Music terms (WHY?). Some of us never really had to study until it came down to our first college exam, and they were right there with us - holding us down to read those dreadful textbooks.
9. Helping to clean when our parents came to visit
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So. Many. Pizza. Boxes. A lot of I owe you's were thrown out into the open, once we got the call from mom saying "Hi honey, Dad and I are on our way... see you in an hour!" Buying them dinner, doing their laundry, cleaning their side of the room, etc... we loved them just a little bit more, for putting on that fine act for our parents.
10. When they were there through our breakups...
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They really tried their best to help us get through our breakups. They pushed us to move on and lead us to our first attempt at rebounding in college. They really did give it their all, when they set out to find us our very own FWB (even if it were just for a night.)
11. The Buddy System / Dream Team
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When we had such chemistry with them that playing beer pong didn't feel right with anyone else... We felt so blessed to have been paired with an absolute baller. Let's face it, they held the team - time after time.
12. Sweet Nothings
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Even if they were joking, the little comments about how hot we looked meant so much to us. While we were getting ready for our first class of the day and they walked by saying something like, "Hey, got a Kik?" or "How you doin', ma? What da mouf do?" Those kinds of comments were really just (trap) music to our ears. #hmu
13. Getting healthy
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They had this magical way about them where they could low key say we were getting, fat but we still loved them for it. At least, we always had a workout buddy! Having someone to talk about nonsense to while jogging on the treadmill was really great. Before we knew it, we had already been on the machine for 45 minutes. We had a spotter for our weight-lifting and a squatting partner, so we didn't look too thirsty.
14. Study buddy
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They were there when we had to memorize those World Music terms...as a CJ major. They helped us study for the life-threatening Chemistry midterm. They were probably better at teaching us than our actual professors.
15. The fix
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Being a real bro and watching TV with the volume all the way up in the common room while we got some. We were so grateful for them, sock after sock.
16. Playing house
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All of our little trips to Target, Walmart, and Wendy's were so valuable and time-efficient...especially when we went at 3 a.m. and rode the little kid bikes around until we got kicked out. But it's cool, we got nuggets afterwards.
17. Family boundaries
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For all of the times they wanted our hot sibling...thanks for (hopefully) not going through with it. But seriously dude, there are like 3.5 billion other girls to chose from.
18. Broke grooming sessions
At least they tried. Mullets were in style once, maybe we could try to bring them back?? "Hmmm, maybe if we just--" *clips off our soul, through a chunk of hair.* Hey, we thought it was better than paying someone to do it.
19. For being BRUTALLY honest
Hey, sometimes we deserved it. If we didn't eat or sleep enough, let's face it - we were a nightmare. They definitely didn't put up with our shit and they surely didn't have to. The honesty was appreciated, mostly after we ate a Snickers bar.
20. The unexpected laughter
Sometimes after a long day when it just seemed like everything was going downhill, we loved the tripping over nothing and stupid questions, no matter what we said afterward, or how long we wouldn't let them live it down. We were pretty sure that having a roommate also meant having entertainment 24/7.
21. No judgement zone
The weird noises, the awful singing, the hookups, the junk food, the lack of clothing, the snoring, and so on - they always put up with our nonsense and (almost) never said anything about it...wait no, they always did. But we still loved them.
No matter how angry they made us, we truly received our "experience" of having a roommate. When we look back at our college years, they will probably be labeled as some of the best ones of our lives. Our roommates were definitely a contribution to the new feel of being independent in college. Thanks for being there through the best and the worst. "You the real MVP."
