Even though I didn’t start out with a roommate, one quiet morning in November had changed it all. It was early in the morning and I had been asleep. I heard a loud knocking at the door. Thinking it was maintenance, I got up and answered it. Instead, a shorter girl stood in the doorway and looked up at me and squeaked ‘I’m your new roommate’. She had sent me a friend request via Facebook the previous week. Not knowing who she was, I declined it. I had not been emailed by housing and food to inform me of a new roommate, so I was a bit confused.

I suggested that I help her move into the room. That day, we spent the rest of the day moving boxes and tubs up two flights of stairs. It was quite a lot of work. We managed to get everything moved in just fine and then we organized what we brought up. I was both excited about having a roommate and sad that I had to share my room. Luckily, since she was shorter than five feet tall, she was able to easily get onto the top bunk of our bed and it worked out just fine.

Although this girl was small, she was anything but meek. She was in a sorority and in the military. She had her share of issues, though. She had depression, she was often ostracized and I could tell then that she needed a friend. The little things seemed like a blessing to her. I helped her through her hard times – and I was very glad to be able to. As someone who doesn’t empathize well, I tried very hard to be there for her. I wanted her to know that regardless of what society had in store for her, she was always welcome to come to me. It took a little time to get to the point where I could be freely sarcastic with her. Even now, sometimes, she still thinks I’m being sarcastic when I’m not. We definitely grew closer together – not only as roommates, but also as friends.

Then she had a particularly hard time during the beginning of the second semester. I did everything in my power to help her. Then we had kind of a hiatus. It lasted a good couple of months. She had a lot of things going on. She would go to a religious service every week, go to mic night at a local coffee shop every month, and she found someone to share all those moments with her. He’s a nice guy and I very much approve, but it felt as though we had grown apart. She wouldn’t come back to the dorm during the night and I wouldn’t see her for days at a time. When I did see her, it would only be for a few minutes at a time.

Then summer came and I went to Louisiana and she stayed in Norman. She has her own house now and I live in my own apartment. Maybe being apart is better for our friendship. We’ve gotten together a couple times since I moved into my own place. Things are starting to look better between her and me. We’ll have new experiences and even though she’s not in the same room anymore, it’s great that we can still get in touch and let each other know all about it. Sure it wasn’t the best roommate experience, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.