Meeting your roommate for the first time is nerve-racking. There is no other way to describe it. Will he or she like me? Will he/she smell good (or bad)? Will we get along? What will happen? These questions are only a few that course through a freshman's mind when he or she first meets his/her roommate. It does not matter if you go in pot luck, meet your roommate online, or even choose to room with a friend from high school. Things can change once you get to college, so really everyone has questions about what will happen and how you will get along with each other.
Though I have only had one roommate thus far (and she is ablsolutely my bff!), these are the stages and thoughts of friendship that I noticed between the two of us as the year progressed:
1. "Wow, there she is" stage.
This is your first sighting of the person who will share the same room with you for the next 8 months.
2. "She seems nice... I hope..." stage.
Now that you've assessed the person, you may intentionally or unintentionally create some opinions about that person, and hope that the person is all that you hope they are to be.
3. The first conversation.
It usually goes something like this: "Hi, I'm Meghan." "Nice to meet you, I'm Lauren." Followed by a hand shake or an awkward hug.
4. You do everything together stage.
Especially if you're a freshman and don't have any friends on campus yet, you'll probably go through this stage. You only know one person and that person happens to live with you. So you eat dinner together, go to the library together, and explore campus together.
5. The beginnings of actual friendship.
You start to share experiences from being with each other so much and having our own inside jokes to laughing about them.
6. Bffs.
You're basically inseparable, even though at this point you don't have to be.
7. First fight.
Now that you're officially bffs, the first fight is bound to happen. Whatever it may be about, a messy room, dirty dishes, or room arrangements, you both really know that even though you're arguing, you're still going to stay bffs.
8. Post-fight stage.
Now that you've both argued, your friendship is solid. You've proved to each other that you're willing to work at the relationship and not let fights get in between your friendship. You also can joke around with him/her because you know that he/she is invested in you.
9. You share your deepest, darkest secrets.
Especially when you're living with the person, things get deep, especially late at night. Naturally, you're going to share these things with the person who shares everything else with you.
10. You take him/her home to meet your fam.
This is a huge step in roomie-latonship! They must be a rockin' person if your family is allowed to meet them.
11. "What am I going to do without you all summer????" stage.
You love your roomie and you can't imagine a whole 3 months without him or her.
Your freshman roomie is someone that you will never forget. Enjoy the year with each other, get out an explore, have crazy experiences. This is college and it's all new to you!
