Before I came to college I never gave roommates much thought. In fact, I didn’t really give it any thought until I received my first of many roommates. It was the middle of August and I received a packet in the mail that gave me all my move-in-day information and a sheet with my roommates name, number and email address. I quickly signed into Facebook and looked her up. My mom was just as eager as I was to see what she looked like. As the page loaded we both frowned at her profile picture, which had three girls in it making it difficult to know exactly which one was her. I went snooping through her photos and in each photo there was the same three girls. I decided to just shoot her a text and after we got a good flow of conversation going I asked her which one she was. Of course she was the one with mini black dress on poking her lips out that my mom was hoping WASN’T. She was from some small town way upstate so I figured I’d get to the room before her and pick out my side of the room. Ha. By the time I got to my room she was practically finished unpacking. It was my first time at this so it didn’t really bother me because at the time I didn’t know the things I know now. For example, if you’re dorming off campus and in the hotels, you always want to get the window side because you usually will have more space on that side.

Anyways, her name was Jackie. She was a pretty nice girl, so I thought. We got along great in the beginning. We went shopping, out to eat, to the movies. We did tons of fun stuff together. We even dressed up together for Halloween. Everything was going great – till she met this guy. He was a senior and extremely aggressive. He didn’t want us hanging out much and she did anything he said just to not upset him. He disliked me and all my friends, who used to be Jackie’s friends as well, and it resulted in him plotting to get me removed from my hotel which backfired and got both Jackie and I removed from the hotel and placed into on campus housing. She got a single, I got another roommate and then we never spoke again. From what I know, after that year he graduated and she transferred.

It was now spring semester of my freshman year and I had my second roommate. For days she didn’t show up. However, her things did. In between classes and work she moved in but hadn’t yet committed to staying over night. She was from a town about twenty minutes away so for the first few nights of the semester she stayed there, I’m assuming. While I was either in class or at work she had posted a few pictures on the wall so I was able to identify her this time. Her name was Skye. She happened to be a Virgo, which are extremely compatible with Scorpio’s, like myself. We hit it off pretty well. Our first weekend together she invited me to a house party in her hometown. I remember it not being much of a party at first. Then after a few drinks I turned off the lights plugged my phone up to a stereo and next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed with a cracked iPhone4 completely shattered on both sides. I remember bits and pieces but I am certain I had a great time. We spent a lot of time together. Summer was approaching and it was time to go home. We said we’d keep in touch but we didn’t.

Fall semester came around again and I had yet another new roommate. I don’t recall what her name was but she never showed up. Luckily for me I was able to claim my window side of the hotel room. After two weeks as a sophomore and being roommate free, my RA approached me and I was informed that I was getting assigned a new roommate after the first one bailed. I was a bit nervous. Once again my new roommate moved in while I was at class. Her clothing and shoes were neatly put away but she was nowhere to be found. After a few days of not seeing her I decided to leave her a sticky note with my number on it so she could text me and we could meet up. I received a text from her while I was on campus and she said, “hey can I use your speakers?” to which I replied, “yeah, sure.” That was it. To be honest I was a little disappointed. I was hoping that she would ask to meet up or give me a time she’d be in the room so I could go and meet her in person, but nope. Never happened. She would come in really late at night while the lights and TV were off and I was in bed so I’m assuming it would be past midnight. Maybe she had an over night job or something but I never seen her during the day. She ended up moving out after only a week of being there. I never seen her face, I don’t remember her name, and only received one small text. I wasn’t too upset though, I mean after all I had my own room for two whole months.

And then, I got Raffie. That’s short for her real name, so we’ll refer to her as that. I knew about Raffie maybe a week before she moved into my room. She lived down the hall from me and she had no roommate as well. So to maximize space the school decided to pair us up. Some of my friends happened to be some of her friends and they all said the same thing, “you guys are just alike you will get along great.” I have to admit, they were all right! Raffie was amazing. We both were girly, we both had braces, we both liked keeping to our selves. It was great. We spent literally every second together. We spoke the same, laughed the same, and even smiled the same. Winter break came and we both went home but we couldn’t wait to get back and room for another semester. We got along so well that we agreed to be roommates again for the following year. That was until Raffie changed her mind. She felt that it would be cost conscious if she commuted the next year and I didn’t find out till the week before move-in day. I was super disappointed. So my junior year came along and guess what? Yupp, I got another roommate.

Her name was Jessica. I didn’t know much about her except that she lived in my hotel the year before. I was certain that we wouldn’t have much in common. We spoke to one another, barely, just a few conversations here and there nothing too deep. I was certain that Raffie would change her mind and dorm again, but it never happened. November came around pretty fast and my birthday had just passed when I hit a crucial time. My boyfriend and I broke up after 5 years and I was crushed. I had no one. My family was back at home and Raffie wasn’t dorming, so there I was depressed, a mess and crying every day and every night with no one to talk to. Finally, Jessica had enough of my moping and forced me to hang out with her and her friends for a night of drinking, music and girl talk. At first I was hesitant because it was already junior year and these friendships had already been established so I felt like a newbie, but to my surprise it turned out well. We laughed, we drank, we danced and it was wonderful. After that night Jessica and I grew close telling each other stories and building a bond. And one thing I must mention is that she cooked! Man-oh-man did she cook! We had a kitchenette in our hotel that year so it included a stovetop and full fridge. She would make rice and beans, chicken, spaghetti, pasta, eggs, French toast and tons more. She loved cooking and I loved eating. We stuffed our faces all the way till the end of our junior year. Then she broke the news to me. She only needed one more semester to finish her degree and it just made sense to commute for that last semester. So I had one more year to go to meet a new person.

This past august I received a packet from the residential office informing me that I would be in a single on campus. A single?! I had to figure out something quick. This may sound bratty but I was already used to the hotel life and after that one semester I did on campus with Skye, I just couldn’t do another semester on campus. The rooms are small, the bathrooms are gross and the hallways are extremely noisy. I sent out a tweet asking if anyone would like to switch and within minutes a girl named Elizabeth wrote me saying she’d be willing to switch. She introduced me to her roommate Samantha who would be my new roommate and boom! I was in a hotel and with a new roommate, yet again. After introducing ourselves on twitter I learned Samantha was a sophomore. I rolled my eyes. Sam if you’re reading this ill explain why don’t get upset yet. I’m a senior. I took a year off from school after graduating high school so I am already a year ahead of most of my peers (in age), so in some ways I like to think of myself as a bit more mature. So when I learned Samantha was a sophomore I was a little disappointed and somewhat annoyed. I judged her. I felt that because she was just coming out of her freshman year she’d still want to experience that freshman life of partying all the time, hanging out with her friends in the room all night, and wanting to stay up doing absolutely nothing just because. Where as I was already out that phase. I was serious about graduating, I did all my partying, I had really no friends and my sleep was precious to me. I woke up extra early and had my car packed up the night before so I could get there before Samantha and choose my side, but Samantha beat me. She had arrived literally five minutes before me and her and her mom had just finished moving her stuff in, still unpacked. Luckily she hadn’t taken the window side.

It was a bit awkward at first because I wasn’t sure what we should talk about but after a few hours we just started chit chatting along. She told me she was from Long island, some of her interests and we both had retail experience, which was always a topic of discussion because we understood each other’s pain in the world of retail. Soon Samantha became Sam. Although Sam spent most of her nights on campus with her boyfriend I enjoyed the time we spent together Yeah she was younger than me but she was mature. She was learning and being that I already went through some things that she would go through I felt like I could help her or give her advice if she ever needed. She was a sweet girl.

And then, she left me.

With only three weeks left of the fall semester Sam decided to take some time off of school. It was Sunday and I was coming back from our thanksgiving break weekend and I walked in to Sam packing up her stuff. We were notified weeks ago that over winter break the hotel would be going under renovations, so we needed to take our things home or put them in storage, so I figured Sam was just getting an early start. I jokingly said, “Sam are you leaving me,” to then which she replied in a very serious non jokingly way, “yeah.” I was… well I don’t know how to describe how I felt. “I was going to tell you but it just all happened today,” she said. She was taking time off of school to help her sister open up some stores upstate. This was crazy. I know I had only known her about two months but I was sad. It was her decision so I had no right to talk her out of it so all I could do was frown. She had made up her mind. An hour later I was hugging her twenty times in a row and saying goodbye six months earlier than expected. Now I sit here in a half empty room a week before the semester ends thinking about who my next roommate will be and what she’ll be like.

We never really give roommates much thought, at least I never did till now. We are forced to live in a room with a person or in some cases people for months not knowing what the outcome will be. Sometimes we hate them, sometimes they turn out to be our best friends and sometimes they leave us way to soon to determine one or the other. They learn our habits and we learn there’s. They are apart of our lives for a semester or two and then more than likely they are gone. All my roommates have memorable impressions on me that will forever remain in my vault of college experiences. So with that said, I look forward to my next roommate in hopes that we get along like majority of my roommates, whether you’re a Jackie, a Skye, a no name, a mystery girl, a Raffie, a Jessica or a Sam. Can’t wait to meet you.

P.S. The window side of the room is mine!