Words from a wallflower

…and they were roommates

When I was dropped off at college, I had an overwhelming feeling of not knowing what to do. For 18 years I had lived at home with the same people. Then I was tossed into this entirely new world without them living with me. Even my small dorm room felt too big.

As with most out-of-state students, I didn’t know anyone when I started school here, and being super introverted didn’t help me with making friends, especially during my first year. Despite my struggle with talking to people on campus, the person I needed the most was right in my dorm room with me. We went from passing each other in the dorm room to talking for hours out in our common room now.

Two years later, I’m still living with her, and she has become my best friend. The late-night adventures to Little Man Ice Cream, the concerts that I would have missed if it weren’t for her, and the complete rearranging of our dorm room at midnight would not have been the same without her. The list continues, as we have one going for all the things we need to do before I graduate in May. None of the things have been crossed off yet, so we definitely have some work to do to go to a concert at Red Rocks and a play at DCPA.

While my other friends have drifted apart from high school, my roommate has been there for me since I moved in a way that no one else has been. I made a mistake in my past relationship where I gave up a lot of my friends for a boy. Never again. Knowing what I know now, I would suggest to people to keep their friends close because those are the people who will be there through the breakups and other stresses and raise you up to create some of the best memories.

It’s bittersweet thinking about what is ahead of us after graduation in May. While I’m excited to move on to what’s next, I will deeply miss living with my best friend. Of course we will visit each other and continue our friendship for many more years. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is lifelong.