I remember the summer before my first year at college I was incredibly anxious about my roommate. I was going to be living with someone for a year, and I didn’t even know who she was. Being someone who constantly worries, this was not an ideal situation. Sure, we had talked, but how much can you really know a person just by texting?
Online, in TV shows and in movies, there’s a common theme between roommates: they become your best friend. And that’s honestly what I wanted–someone to get coffee with, to hang out with after classes, a shoulder to cry on when things got tough. I wanted so bad to become best friends with her.
Things didn’t quite work out that way.
At first, there was an awkward distance between the two of us. This was normal, given the circumstances that we were two strangers living in a room together. I thought the awkwardness would fade away, and tried to start conversations whenever I saw her. I would get basic responses that would end the conversation quickly.
I soon stopped trying to start conversations, and the distance never faded away. If anything, it grew. I never wanted to be in my room and avoided it at all costs. The only time I ever felt comfortable in there was when she wasn’t there, which rarely happened.
I grew wary of what was in store for my next year. I hadn’t heard of many people having a successful rooming situation, and just accepted the fact that I was going to have to room with some random person and most likely not be comfortable in my room for another year.
That is, until I met a girl who is now one of the most important people in my life.
By some strange coincidences, she and I met at midnight on a random weekday while watching the Office with some half-friends, half-strangers. That same girl basically forced me to go to lunch with her every day that week and talked to me until I got comfortable with her, and we soon became close friends.
After some awkward dancing around the subject of rooming, one day she raised the question of us potentially being roommates, which I jumped to agree to. As the year went on, she and I realized how excited we were to live with each other, and I started looking forward to living with someone I actually knew and cared about.
While our room is small this year, I finally feel safe and comfortable in it. It’s a home away from home. I can sit in here, talk with her about my day or any problems I have, get the advice I want and need to hear, laugh about stupid things that we see on the computer, rant about the patriarchy and social justice issues that need addressing in the world and so much more.
I love her so much. I don’t know what I would do without her. She’s definitely the best roommate I could ever ask for, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of the year, and years to come, with her in my life.