There are two definitions of potluck. One takes place during a neighborhood block party on a summer night in the middle of July where suburban moms come together and fill tables of food with mac n cheese, meatloaf and coleslaw. The other definition of potluck involves a college freshman who is assigned to share a room with a complete stranger for their entire first year of college. I went potluck my freshman year and came to find this decision to be the biggest blessing of the year.

A letter to my potluck roommate:

Moving day brings all different types of emotions. As we unpacked, I glanced over at your side of the room to find it covered head to toe in the color pink. Pink bedspread, pink pillows, pink picture frames, pink lamps, even your scissors on your desk were pink. I spent the next two days as we unpacked our lives into that small little room, convincing myself that there was more to bond over than the color pink. In those two days I realized that potluck had opened the door to a lifelong friendship. College would have looked very different if it hadn’t been for you. So, I want to thank you for making an impact on my freshman year.

1. Thank you for being my first friend in college.

Going potluck has its perks, like providing you with an instant friend. We did everything together those first few weeks. We got ready together every morning for rush, we had movie nights on the floor of our dorm, we attempted to “study” at Evans and we went pond hopping the night before the first day of classes. If it weren’t for you, the transition from Indiana to Texas would have been extremely painful and hard. Instead, you made those first few weeks unforgettable. I forgot what it was like to be homesick and soaked in ever new and exciting moment of college with you.

2. Thank you for teaching me the importance of naps.

I remember at the beginning of the semester how against taking naps in the middle of the afternoon I was. Yet I would come back to the dorm to find you snuggled up in our cozy, lofted beds with the lights off, hitting the snooze 10 minutes before class started. I remember falling into the trap one day and life has never been the same. Good ol’ Legett makes for the perfect pit stop in between History 206 and Philosophy 240 to take that much needed catnap. Thank you for teaching me that a little R&R is never a bad thing.

3. Thank you for being my home away from home.

Coming from a big family where dinners around the table were a nightly occurrence made for a difficult transition going into college. It was always a comforting feeling when I would open the door and there you were to welcome me home after a long day of classes. You don’t realize how reassuring it was to find you sitting at your desk waiting for me to come home to go to Sabisa with you. It was like everything was going to be OK at the end of the day when I would walk into our room and you were there.

4. Thank you for not letting me leave the dorm looking like a complete fool.

Your fashion sense is miles ahead of the mainstream trends. Your brutal honesty was my saving grace when it came to the lack of fashion sense I acquired. Helping me pick out my shoes when I couldn’t decide which ones to wear and graciously letting me borrow your comfy flannels on a Friday night. You have saved me the embarrassment of walking campus looking like a total dweeb. My mom and sister thank you for filling their shoes.

5. Thank you for letting me eat your snacks and use your perfume.

Chipotle and the ‘you know what you did wrong’ face is all that needs to be said.

6. Thank you for the “Twerk Radio” kinda nights.

Those sporadic 30-minute moments where we blast Twerk Radio on Pandora, risking getting one of our countless noise complaints from the annoying neighbor, Helga. We would bust moves Northgate has never seen before. I live for the moments where we both end up on the floor dying laughing over something stupid one of us did.

7. Thank you for putting up with me at my worst.

I’ve never shared a room with anyone before besides my sister. No one has ever really witnessed me at my worst besides my family. You know me better than I know myself sometimes, I swear. You know when I’m stressed, when something’s bothering me, when I’m excited or upset. You always know how to calm me down, or make me laugh no matter how mad I might be with you. Thank you for listening to me when I need to vent about the girl who just threw my clean clothes on the floor of the laundry room. I will never be quick enough for your comebacks, you can always shut me up so fast. Thank you for your advice and tough love, it will never go unnoticed.

8. Thank you, Legett Hall, Room 305.

The corner room on the third floor of Legett Hall holds so many memories. I will never forget opening the door to our room for the first time in August and watching our moms panic at the actual size of this room. We wondered how we were going to survive community showers and lofted beds for an entire year. It’s now May, and our room is empty, the lights are down and the walls are bare. It's sad to think we will never live in Legett Hall ever again, but this room will always be a sweet memory because I got to share it with you.

Until next year,

Mads