When people see us together, hardly anyone can believe that we just met for the first time this past August on move-in day. Nobody would ever have guessed that we didn’t know each other before this year, or that we were actually randomly assigned to live together. I will be the first to admit that I was terrified to be living with people I had never met before; so many things could possibly go wrong when you’re living in such close quarters with complete strangers. But somehow the stars aligned for us, and in just 7 short months, we have gone from strangers, to friends, to best friends, to sisters, and I could not be more grateful for the way things worked out. So Mahoney 236, here’s to you.
1. Thank you for introducing me to your taste in music, and for accepting mine.
From Korn to Nicki Minaj to Taylor Swift, you never know what will be blasting throughout the suite at any given moment. But we’ve proven that we can dance along to almost anything (“dance” being a relative term, because we are all a little awkward in that department) and have the best time doing it, simply because we are together.
2. Thanks for disliking the same people I do, even if you have never met them.
All I have to do is say someone’s name, and you instantly bash them right along with me, as if you knew them yourself. You dislike the person at least just as much as I do, and sometimes even more than I do.
3. Thank you for taking care of me when I’m not at my best.
What goes around comes around, and we take care of each other, but it’s always reassuring to know that I can come home and always have someone there to make sure I’m okay.
4. Thank you for making me incredibly grateful that I didn’t transfer.
Yes, I was unbelievably close to leaving Miami after freshman year and transferring somewhere closer to home. You both know the whole story, but I feel like God was looking out for me when He gave me you guys this year. I could not be any more grateful that I decided to stay, because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met the best friends I’ve ever had.
5. Thank you for accepting my weird quirks even if you can’t understand them sometimes.
You guys always wait for me whenever I have to go back to the room and check that I unplugged the straightener one more time or make sure the door is closed all the way. You also accept that I use so much soap that sometimes it ends up all over the sink, and the fact that at one point I had three bottles of Purell on my desk. I struggle with a lot of things, and there have been plenty of people in my life who couldn’t handle me and my issues and left me in the dust, but you two have never faltered in supporting me and I could not be more grateful for that.
6. Thank you for buying me 2 boxes of cereal and 3 bags of Starburst jellybeans for my 20th birthday.
This might sound like the strangest present ever to anyone who doesn’t know me, but in a lot of ways you guys know me better than I know myself and that was the greatest birthday present of all time.
7. Thanks for making even the most terrible, not-fun tasks somewhat fun.
Let’s be real, cleaning the shower and the bathroom will never be considered a “fun” task. But somehow we always end up doubled over in laughter, usually because of our own stupidity (like the time Jess poured the whole bucket of water all over herself when she was trying to rinse the shower walls).
8. Thanks for struggling just as much as I do with this whole “adulting” thing.
Thanks for being patient with me that time I kept messing up with the Tide pods while doing my laundry (I know, like the simplest thing ever), and I had to wash that towel like three different times before I got it right. Thank you for always having the answers to my questions, whether it is about what exactly “business casual” means, or how many days after the expiration date yogurt is still edible.
9. Thank you for understanding my love for New Jersey and tolerating my occasional homesickness.
You always know exactly what I mean when we wake up on a Sunday morning and I say “I would do terrible things for a Jersey bagel right now”, or when we get pizza from some fake Floridian pizzeria and it’s just not cutting it.
10. Thanks for always knowing exactly what I’m thinking just by the look on my face.
I never even have to say a word; you always know exactly what I need at that moment, whether it is a bathroom break away from all the chaos of the party or a quick nap because I’m starting to get cranky.
11. Thank you for making our little room my home away from home.
You didn’t kick me out when I decorated the whole room in Christmas lights, and you let me put up Halloween decorations and Easter stickers without even rolling an eye. Living with you makes me feel safe and secure, and I truly look forward to going “home” to you guys each and every day.
12. Thank you for showing me what it’s like to have true friends who I can depend on for anything.
Thank you for always making sure I remember how worthy I am, and reminding me that I should never settle for less than I deserve. Thank you for teaching me that true friends leave a party together as a group if someone says they need to go home – no questions asked. Thank you for never letting a guy get between us and thank you for letting me have the last of the breakfast potatoes at the dining hall. Thank you for all of these things and so much more that I cannot even express in words.
I know in technical terms, our living together is considered “random”. But I truly believe that something, somewhere – whether it be fate or destiny or whatever else you believe in – brought us together on purpose. So thank you for changing my life, making me smile, making me laugh, and being the absolute best friends I could have ever hoped for.
