Roomie,

It breaks my heart that we won’t be living together again next year. Before I found you, I had never shared a room with anyone. As is the case with most things related to starting college, it was exciting, and it was scary. I will never forget the day we agreed to be roommates: we discussed our dorm preferences, and I put myself out there by asking if you wanted to live together. You agreed and, much to my surprise, said you had been planning to ask me the same thing! Wow, that took a huge weight off of my chest. And just like that, another was dropped on my shoulders. What if we weren’t good roommates? What if you didn’t like me? We had chosen to be roommates, not randomly placed. If we didn’t get along, would it be awkward? Would we stop being friends?

Luckily, my anxiety around the topic was short-lived. We were already friends, but it wasn’t long until we became like sisters. We had fun, we showed frustration, we had late-night chats and late-night snacks. We procrastinated with study breaks, nap breaks, laundry breaks and most importantly, dance breaks. We had artsy nights, we had fartsy nights, we had athletic days and we definitely had lazy days. We went on adventures together and grew more in the past two years than we probably had in our entire lives.

Being your roommate has had an incredible effect on me. I am better today because I got to share a room with you. For instance, I am much neater in college than I was back home. Knowing you liked a neat room pushed me to be on my best behavior, and now it’s an expectation for myself, for which I am sure all my future roommates will be grateful. You’ve made me into a better student. We’ve shared tips on effective study methods and on problem set strategies. I’ve learned from you what academic and athletic grit really look like, which makes me want to be as determined and dedicated as you are. You’ve made me into a better friend. I would drop anything to help you, even if I’d been up for three days straight, because you deserve to have someone there for you.

There is an infinite list of things I could thank you for, but there are several that really stand out:

Thank you for always having my back. I always know I can text you asking if you can grab my *insert forgotten item here* because I forgot something for the zillionth time, and you won’t mind helping. Or if you do mind, you don’t show it.

Thank you for thinking of me. When our friends make plans when I am not around or when our GRT has stopped by with treats while I’m out working, you make sure I am not forgotten. Thank you for all of the times you’ve made me feel included without me asking.

Thank you for motivating me. Every time I’ve said I want to give up, whether or not I am just being dramatic, you’ve told me not to and pointed me back in the right direction.

Thank you for teaching me compromise. In college, we can end up living in very close proximity with someone who has a completely different schedule and who makes different life choices. That can be taxing on anyone, but not when you learn to work together. No one should ever have to apologize for who they are and the choices they make if they don’t cause harm, and because neither of us did, I have learned how to peacefully coexist with another human.

Thank you for teaching me to be kinder to myself. You’ve seen me at my best, when I can dance around and ignore piles of work, even though I probably shouldn’t. You’ve seen me at my absolute worst, when life (plus those piles of previously ignored work) makes it tough for me to remember how to smile. You have made sure I don’t forget that there are people who care about me, and you are the top of that list.

Roomie, there is so much that I could thank you for. There are so many aspects of our roommate-ship that I am going to miss. You’re the closest thing I have had to a sister, and I couldn’t feel any luckier than I do, since it was you.

We've parted for the summer, but school will start again soon enough. We’ll have FaceTime calls, Snapchat streaks and Facebook memories. Even though our housing situations have changed, you’ll always be my best friend.

Love always,

Roomie.