What to expect when sharing a room with your roommate-turned-best-friend

You know you’re in for a ride when your roommate is your best friend. You may get on each other’s nerves every now and then or not always see eye to eye, but there is no one else in the world that you’d rather stay up way too late laughing  with or have sleeping across from you in the ridiculously small dorm room.

You’ll never be judged for eating, no matter how much you eat in one day

Not to mention you’ll never have to go out to eat alone:

“Maybe I should go to the PSU…”

“Oh, I’ll come with you!”

It doesn’t matter how late it is, I know I can always count on her to want to wander the halls of the Park Student Market with me. 12 am? Let’s go see if we need any chocolate or a Vitamin Water. It’s always good to take breaks from school work anyway, right? She’s the perfect snack inspiration, the perfect lunch and/or dinner date, and the perfect mind reader when I’m not sure if I’m feeling like a cheese stick or hummus.

The late night dance parties will never end

I remember the first time my roommate started getting into it. I’m not going to say that she wasn’t sober, but…

Don’t want to study or do homework? Dance party. Can’t sleep? Probably because we’re having a dance party.  But it doesn’t stop at the dancing.  Our nightly routine tends to include playing some “soothing” music in order to fall asleep. It’s safe to say that she’s the Glinda to my Elphaba, and this theory has been tested during our pre-bedtime concerts. I can always count on her to give me a good serenade, whether I want it or not.

 

Even though we live in the same crowded space, we still get excited seeing each other outside of the dorm

It doesn’t matter that I spend the majority of my day with her, it’s still an event when I randomly see her walking past the Student Union on the way to her next class. If I’m walking with my eyes glued to my phone she won’t hesitate to scream and jump in my path. Witnesses would probably assume we were excited over not seeing each other in a while when in actuality it’s probably only been two hours, four max.

 

You can tell her stories for her, even when they’re from before the two of you met

I feel like I personally know all of her friends from home because of how many stories I’ve heard and how often I’ve heard them.  I feel like I was apart of specific memories in her life because I can reiterate them nearly as well as she can, give or take a few details.

 

You can read her emotions just from a facial expression

We don’t even really need to communicate at this point for me to know what’s on her mind. I’ve seen the facial expressions often enough that I can guess what’s going to come out of her mouth next. I can look at her and know that she’s annoyed, seriously pissed off,  excited, or just had a huge revelation.

 

She’s my biggest support system

Every time I have an important test, she’s right by my side (or on my phone screen) with that motivation.  But it’s more than just tests and school related things that she supports me in.  You can expect my roommate to hold an indefinite grudge against you if you ever hurt me or did me wrong.  She’s my mom when she needs to be (yelling at me to stop playing games on my iPad when I need to go to sleep) and I’m hers when I need to be (I really need to yell at her to get back to studying Chinese right now).

 

But she’s also there to laugh at my weaknesses (in the kindest way possible, of course)

Rather than consoling me and telling me everything was going to be fine, my roommate videotaped me on the ground and climbing into our friend’s bed while having an anxiety attack over school. If it were anyone else, that would probably tick me off, but it’s her and after posting it to her snapchat story she started up the inspirational talk. But it’s okay because I have pictures of her anxiety attacks too.

 

She knows where I’ll be on my Thursday and Saturday nights

and hopefully she’ll be there too.  I’m always begging her to come out with me for a night at my favorite frat house.  Some nights I can get her to get dressed and accompany me spur of the moment, others I can count on her to not hold a grudge when I come home way after she’s already fallen asleep.  Of course I prefer to have her by my side, she is my partner in crime after all.

 

The separation anxiety is real

I swear I FaceTimed her three times in one weekend when I went to San Diego with my family.  Imagine how we felt about winter break.  A whole month apart?! We miss each other even after spending one night apart so coming back together for second semester meant a lot of hugging, squealing, dancing, and storytelling, even though most of those stories were already shared over text as they were occurring.

It’s crazy to think that before August my roommate wasn’t a part of my life.  And yes, I may be excited as all hell to have a room to myself next year, but the thought of not waking up with my best friend by my side is unimaginable.  Back in August the University of Arizona seemed so huge and intimidating and the Coronado dorm seemed like a mad house (it really is though, they don’t call it Nasty Nado for nothing), but I’ve learned to adapt and grow to love every aspect of college with one person by my side.  It’s safe to say that my freshman year wouldn’t be the same if I had anyone else as my roommate.