Choosing a college is a big deal. It's the next step in figuring out what you want to do with your life. All of the elements have to be there. Everything has to be right— the campus food, how the dorms are set up, what kinds of classes are offered for each major, the different clubs and organizations available, and most importantly who you live with. Choosing a roommate or suite mates can be a stressful task, which is why I left my decision up to fate and selected the random roommate option.
Yes, I did it. I chose the scary option of having a random roommate and suite mates. I was going back and forth with myself for the longest time. Was this the right decision? I had tried meeting people through the Facebook page for my school before choosing randomly. I messaged them, told them my major, and waited to hear if we had any commonalities. The conversations were short, awkward, and overall pretty unsuccessful. I was starting to get stressed out at this point. All these thoughts were running through my head. Would I be able to find a roommate? What if we ended up meeting and it was terrible? I was so nervous. I didn't know if a random roommate was right for me. People had told me horror stories, that going random was horrible. However, I had also heard that going random was the best thing people could have.And so here I am, sitting in my dorm, with my three suite mates, who I had only met on Thursday, watching Harry Potter weekend on FreeForm.
I'm proud of myself for stepping out of comfort zone and choosing to be with people I didn't know. It was a really great decision. By choosing random roommates, I can easily learn to accept our differences, but also celebrate our similarities. We are all so unique and it's refreshing. I'm from New Jersey, my direct roommate is from Maryland, and my suite mates are from Brooklyn and Texas. It's amazing learning about all of our state customs and traditions. For example, they thought I was crazy that I don't know how to pump my own gas because it's illegal in New Jersey. Trying to talk and get to know each other at first was slightly awkward. But, we're all getting along so well and it's easy to call them good friends after such a short period of time.
Choosing a random roommate may be super scary and nerve-wracking but I'm grateful that I had this option. I can already tell that this year is going to be a great one. My suite mates look out for me, laugh with me, and give me the advice to help get through college. It's only been three-days but I know that random roommates were the best option for my success in college. So if you're scared, do it because you could meet your next best friends for life.
