Everyone has a different freshman roommate experience. Some good, some terrible. I decided to choose my roommate, and I only had one thing on my list of criteria. My roommate had to be a Christian and share the same beliefs that I held onto so closely.

When beginning the search process I was very open about the kind of person I was looking for. In my mind, if my roommate and I shared a common belief system then that would go ahead and eliminate any conflicts that could come up. With that common belief system would come similar core values that I knew we would both hold onto. Through this, I happened to find exactly what I was looking for.

My roommate messaged me after I made a post on the accepted students' page for my class. She had read my post and was looking for the exact same thing in her roommate. We both knew that along with a common belief system also came a common support system. We knew that we would be able to encourage one another through a difficult transitional period in our lives.

I knew we would be able to explore campus and find different religious life groups that we wanted to be a part of. We can look for churches together to attend on Sundays and small groups for throughout the week. I knew going into college that choosing my roommate the way I did would help my transition, but let me tell you it has made a world of difference. We talk about anything and everything. Classes, family drama, school stress. You name it, we have probably discussed it.

We also have very similar academic interests. We are both biology majors and planning on being pre-health. We are in the same biology and chemistry classes, which makes the classes and the studying a lot more fun. We are able to help each other out when we get stuck on different elements of the difficult and fast-paced science courses we are both taking.

I knew going into this that because we shared our common belief, I not only gained an instant friend but also found a sister in Christ. Being surrounded by a Christian community is one of the most important things for me, especially as I adjust to my new life full of plenty of unfamiliarity. I am so thankful to have found a roommate that I get along with so well. Her patience is unbelievable and is always there to help me and make me laugh when I freak out about overloading my schedule. Having someone that I can count on as being a constant in my life (or at least for this year) makes every other uneasy transition that much easier.