The other day, my college roommate texted me and asked if I wanted to meet up somewhere and catch up. Our hometowns are only 40 minutes away from each other (meeting half-way means only driving 20 minutes to see her), yet, since graduating this last April, we've only managed to hang out twice.
Whether you live a few minutes or hours away from your old college roommates, it's really hard to transition from seeing someone literally every day to seeing them only a couple times a year. Here are the six things I miss most about being her roommate…
Being able to quietly share a space with someone while still feeling like you're hanging out
It was a beautiful thing: I’m an introvert, she’s an introvert, we both enjoyed our quiet time. I loved that I could exist with someone and feel their presence without having to engage them every moment we're together. Going from that to a household with three brothers and two animals was one of the hardest things about moving back home.
Having an ear to talk to whenever you needed it
While I do love my quiet time, I’m also a verbal processor, especially when I’m anxious. If I ever needed to de-stress from the day or tell someone something super exciting that happened to me, I knew my roommate would be in our room at the end of the day willing to listen to my rambling and give advice if she had it. I would even tell her up front, “you don’t have to pay attention to what I’m saying,” and she would anyway! (Or at the very least she was good at pretending to listen).
Having someone to run errands with
I hate going anywhere by myself, really, but if my roommate or I needed to go run an errand, we would both go together. Pharmacy? Physical therapy? Walmart any time after 10pm? Give us any excuse to ignore homework or other responsibilities and we're there.
Having someone who not only doesn’t judge you for your poor food choices… but joins in
I’d love to do the math on how much raw cookie dough, Taco Bell and Denny’s was consumed between the two of us over the course of our time in college.
Having someone to take care of you when you’re not feeling well
I had a lot of rough patches in college when it came to my health. My roomie took care of me and drove me places when I was feeling too crappy to do anything myself. I’d return the favor and bring her food to her bed when she was too sore from practice. The best times were when we'd both get sick at the same time, and we would drag each other to the store for soup and medicine.
Having a built-in best friend in your life
I don’t have any sisters, so having another female to confide in was so refreshing and really amazing. She didn't judge me for my daily shenanigans or random thoughts I'd think of in the shower and come out in my towel to tell her. From semi-biased advice to late night food runs, I knew I could count on her to be there when I needed her. And for that, I am forever grateful.
