Like every other incoming freshman, I was so excited to be in college. I had heard stories of how people became best friends with their roommates, and I thought I would too. Boy, was I wrong. When talking about freshman roommates, you either hear stories about how somebody was best friends with their roommate or somebody was stuck with the roommate from hell. I wish my story was a good one, but unfortunately it’s not. However, I would like to thank my freshman roommate from hell, because she taught me several important lessons.

First, thank you for teaching me not everybody has the same values as me. For me, I am in college to gain an education and be able to land my dream job; however, that is not why you came here. You came to college to party and hook up with random guys. Honestly, if that is how you want to spend your college years and your hard earn money, go you. It just became quite sickening hearing you complain about how you were failing all of your classes and how your family is already too poor to send you to school on a daily basis. Meanwhile, you slept half the day, and went partying for the second half. Personally, I was quite surprised you even returned to campus for a second year.

Second, thank you for teaching me people lie, even when they say they are not lying. The amount of times you looked me straight in the eye and lied to me is quite ridiculous. You said one thing, but then acted another way. For instance, when you said you were not bringing guys over anymore, and then a few days later I saw a condom wrapper on the top of the full garbage. You could have at least taken out the garbage to hide the evidence. Or how about the time where you said you don’t drink, then later told me about the underage drinking ticket you had got when you were 16. I had a good laugh at that one. P.S. Did I forget to tell you I figure out every secret and lie? I’m sorry, maybe you should not have lied in the first place.

Third, thank you for teaching me how to handle the dreaded awkward silence. Do you remember those weeks where you never said a word to me? You could not even manage a “hello” or “goodbye”. I never realized how loud silence was until you decided I was not worth speaking to. It’s okay though, I learned to just play music or watch TV in order to drown out the silence. To be honest, never talking to me was just plain rude, but after the first few weeks, I came to the conclusion it was just your personality.

Fourth, thank you for teaching me I still need my mom. I would call my mom daily crying about the newest thing you pulled, and some days I would call her more than once just because I could not handle you anymore. The most vivid memory was the day I called her, because I came back to our room to find your newest boy toy talking on the phone in our room while you were in the shower. He gave me a dirty looked and asked if I could give him some privacy to talk on the phone, in our room. Can you believe that? He had the nerve to tell me to leave the room I was paying to live in. He was a real keeper. Don’t worry though, I never told your mom her precious daughter was sharing her bed with the guy you told her was just a friend.

Lastly, thank you for teaching me who comes first. As much as I want to be selfless, living with you was the worst few months of my life. The day I finally worked up the guts to ask you to move out, was the best day of the entire semester. Actually, the day you moved out was the best day of the entire semester. I still remember having a mini dance party when I came back to my room to see all of your stuff was gone. At the end of the day, I can try to pretend to put my well-being aside in order to not hurt somebody’s feelings, but you were one instance where I could not pretend anymore.

In all honesty, even though you are the true definition of a roommate from hell, I'm glad I was stuck with you. You taught me some very important lessons about myself, which I probably would have figured out eventually. I’m sorry for any hard feelings between us...actually, I’m really not. You made my life miserable for three months, and I don’t have compassion for someone who can do what you did to me. I just hope one day, you realize your attitude and lack of respect for other people is not a good personality trait.

Sincerely,