'Tis the season of getting emails of whom you will be living with and, most importantly, where you will be living next year. Whether you have no idea who your roommate is, you somewhat know her or you’re already best friends, this will be one of the most important people in your life in your 12x12 room that will become your little home.
On move-in day, there will be people everywhere carrying boxes, swapping furniture in and out of rooms and unpacking cars. If you were like me and my roommate, you will say to each other that this set up isn’t going to work and that it's just to small. Trust me, that’s not the case -- your tiny little room will become a place you will learn to love.
To the girls living in my freshman dorm room,
First off, the room is already full of hype (you’re welcome). Whether I start to go on about the little flaws that room had that my roommate and I learned to embrace, the friendships the room brought to me or even experiences and lessons I have learned in that room, just know that that room meant the world to me. This room was my first room away from home.
This room was where my roommate and I became best friends and where some of my most favorite memories took place. It’s the room where everyone hung out in and the room where people cried, laughed (a lot) and talked in. The room always had an unusual scent to it; usually a coffee brewing, peanut butter and perfume mixed type of scent.
The room inside those four walls had it all. It’s filled with smiles, laughs, joy, cries and every other emotion you can think of. It was the room where late night gossip sessions happened. It held many pre-games. It was the place where many late nights were held, whether it was trying to stay awake to finish homework or having random dance parties and binge eating sessions that then usually led to noise complaints.
By the weekend, the room would become an absolute mess and a cleaning session was held every Sunday. The hallway is where we held our many pre-going out photo shoots. Those walls are the background to so many freshmen pictures. The side door was where our late-night food orders got delivered. The window that never fully closed became people’s favorite spot to stick their head in to talk to us.
Our walls were filled with pictures, the ceiling had lights hanging from them and the room was always decorated for every holiday. So much happened and so many memories were made inside of those four walls. Your current dorm room was the backdrop to my own freshman year. This was my first home away from home that I grew to love, and now it's yours, too.
Make sure you cherish the times in that room. Remember all the moments that room will bring you, good and bad. Make tons of memories. Stumble in one night and sleep on the floor with your friends. Have a big sleep over. Host a pre-gaming session. Cook food and watch movies when you’re wide awake at 2 a.m. Sing loudly. Decorate your door like a Christmas present before Christmas when you’re feeling festive. Have all your friends in your room for heart-to-hearts. These are the moments you’ll go back to as you move through your future years of college.
Because before you know it, you too will peel down the pictures from the walls, remove all of your clothes from your closet and pack up all of your belongings. You will have to check off the list outside of your room, hand in your little gold key, and suddenly, it will no longer be yours. It will belong to another set of girls who will make it their own.
Keep it hype in here, and take good care of it.
With love,
The former resident of your freshman dorm room
