A letter to my official and unofficial roommates.
Dear roommate,
Going away to college is a scary experience. The hardest of all is living with a complete stranger. Luckily for me, you weren’t a complete stranger; we went to high school together, but we were nowhere as close as we are now. Still, I didn’t really know you, I didn’t know what living with another person would be like, I’d had my own room since I was about 7 and I’m by no means a neat person. Would we fight a lot? Were you messy? Would our personalities blend together or completely clash?
Friends and family members told me stories about their roommate experiences, most of which ended badly. Frankly, after hearing these roommate horror stories, I became extremely nervous and basically worried about living with a complete stranger. Turns out, I was an exception. Living with you has been the best part of my college experience. You have become one of my very best friends.
Dear unofficial roommate,
Making friends at college is one of the hardest things to do, and I was afraid I would have a hard time making new ones. The first week went by and I had hardly made any friends — which only worsened my belief — and I became convinced that it was a bad omen for my future. That all changed the moment I met you.
You were friendly, funny and the best part was when you would randomly start to sing, something I myself often do. In a nutshell, it was amazing that I had found someone to randomly sing with. You are someone I felt like (and still do) I could tell anything to without the fear of being judged. Becoming your friend has been another one of the best experiences of college.
There are a few things I want to thank you guys for, things that mean so much to me but I’ve never really thanked you for. Thank you for being my first friends at school.
1. Thank you for putting up with me.
2. Thank you with sitting with me at lunch every day so I wouldn’t be alone.
3. Thank you for encouraging me to go to the gym.
4. Thank you for not judging me when I didn’t go to the gym.
5. Thank you for binge-watching Netflix with me.
6. Thank you for dealing with my screams of anger as my favorite characters get killed off.
7. Thank you for not judging me when I’m slacking on my chores.
8. Thank you for cuddling with me when I’m sad.
9. Thank you for cooking new foods with me.
10. Thank you for dealing with me when I’m at my worst, and not being mad at me for it the next day.
11. Thank you for supporting me in everything I do.
12. Thank you for being generally interested in things that interest me.
13. Thank for not judging my weird and nerdy hobbies.
14. Thank you for introducing me to your families and making them feel like my own.
15. Thank you to your families for being so amazing and treating me as though I was a part of your family.
16. Thank you for showing me there’s more to school than grades and studying.
17. Thank you for forcing me to try new things.
18. Thank you for always brightening up my day.
19. Thank you for all the times you slept over.
20. Thank you for staying up late talking to me.
21. Thank you for letting me go to bed early when I need to.
22. Thank you for making me laugh whenever you’re around.
23. And most of all, thank you for being my best friends.
I can honestly say that I would not have made it through the first year, or this year, without your love and support.
Love always,
Bryanna
