Thank you, freshman year roommate for opening up your world for me to join. When I first walked into our dorm, thinking, “well she is taller than I thought” I had no idea how important of a role you were about to play in my life. You were the stranger I had to live with for seven months, and I am glad you were the one keeping me up almost every night till 2 AM sharing stories and catching me up on your day. As the months went on and our schedules became routine, there was still never a dull moment in our little rectangular dorm room. Whether it be us having to kill a bug at 3 AM, deciding to order Chinese food that takes an hour to arrive at 1 AM, or providing a shoulder to cry on.

Thank you for being understanding-

Thank you for trying to understand me and my life. From pretending to be a science major with me while I complain about it when really your major was the opposite to motivating me to keep studying. Your excitement for me for my exam scores was what made me just as proud to share them with you as my family. You were the one behind the scenes reminding me that I got this at 1 AM. You understood that you had to come home quietly when I had an exam the next morning. You understood my excitement when the cubs won the world series. Your interest in getting to know the person you’re living with is what let me be me in our home away from home dorm room.

Thank you for being open-

Thank you for opening up your world to me. Rooming with a stranger certainly came with its fears but those were swept away after the countless nights of staying up till 2 AM sharing every detail of our lives leading up to this point. Shortly, it seemed as if I was coming home to you every day with a new story to share that was too good to share over text. You suddenly became my sister that I not only shared stories with but also clothes. Even being a whole shoe size apart we still managed to share that too. Our year began having different interests but then morphed into one that we shared. The songs I introduced to you to that you once claimed to hate were then played for me. Our diets always started Sunday night only to be ruined by Monday afternoon. Your present became my present in our little rectangular dorm room that we shared.

Thank you for being there-

And lastly, thank you for being there for me at every waking moment, literally. For being there when life wasn’t going quite right at times; becoming the best comforter when Mom was hundreds of miles away. You reminded me that life was alright and gave me reasons not to go home when I was homesick. You never let me go out a night not looking my best. You helped me in ways a sister would have. From me teaching you how to do laundry for the first time to you informing me with the trendiest styles. We tackled freshman year together and made it out with a friendship so particular that no one will understand. No one will know what it was like to live together, but I am happy to say that I was one lucky girl to receive the one message that sculpted the rest of my freshman year: “Hey Lilly! I saw your post in the MSU group and I thought we had a lot in common!”