August 21, 2015.
This was the day we all officially met. We spent all summer texting and stalking each other on social media trying to figure out each other lives, so we wouldn't have those awkward first meeting conversations (even though it still happened). The moment we all walked into the door of Room 124, we knew our lives were changing whether we liked it or not. That moment was the start of our new chapter, it finally hit us that we are officially adults and now have the freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want. As we all unpacked, careful not to disturb each other since we still weren't too sure of everything, we would have the occasional running into each other as our parents and us unpacked our cars. Time seemed to fly by as we unloaded boxes and boxes of stuff (which half of it we would never use) and before we knew it, it would be time for us to say our goodbyes to our parents. As the tears fell and hugs were given out left and right, we watched together as our parents one by one walked out that front door. We all sat there in that living room together and at that moment the feeling of strangeness and discomfort seemed to fade as we held each other and cried.
As we started to get into the swing of college life, we vowed to stay together and always have each other backs. We started to meet other people on campus and get involved on campus through clubs and sports. Our schedules seemed to become busier and busier and soon it seemed like we never saw each other besides that occasional hello, as one of us left while the other was coming back. We decided to plan weekend shopping trips and movie nights to try and fill each other in on our busy lives and any new gossip we heard around campus. These nights were filled with tears of laughter and all our worries just seemed to melt away. We would try and set dorm rules that would maybe last a day since we just couldn't take each other serious enough. Sure things weren't always peachy, we had our fights where we wouldn't even look in each others directions, but those only seem to bring us closer because we couldn't last more than a week not talking to each other. We have the memories of J term walks in the sub-zero degrees and the baking in the sun as we try to tan on CV hill.
As I look back now, with only a handful day left of our freshman year, I can't believe we were once strangers. I remember during the summer before college, worrying about what I would do if my roommates didn't like me or how I was going to live with complete strangers. Now, I can't even begin to thank you guys enough for everything you have done to help me make it through my first year of college. From our memories of wing night at the bar to our shopping road trips where we always somehow got lost, we can't help but look back and smile. It's hard to believe that we are about to spend three months apart, miles away instead of just footsteps. As we begin to pack all that stuff that we just seemed to unpack, I'm sure there will be some tears, but they won't be tears of sadness, they will be those indescribable tears. Tears of worry about who we are going to talk at 2 a.m. when we can't sleep or who's going to go eat with us when everyone else seems busy.
So, as we begin to clean our room and discover all the random articles of clothing and shoes that we have been hoarding from each other, I wanna say thank you. Thank you for being by my side through this transition in my life that I wasn't sure I would make it through at first. College is the time in your life where you meet all these amazing people and it happened to turn out that the first two amazing people that I met on this campus were my roommates. I can't wait for the next three years that will be filled with late night karaoke laughs and hugs and tears as we try to make it through this thing called life. Always remember that three is better than four for those who can't share.
XOXO,
Your roomie.