When the time came to choose whether to talk to someone online and choose them as my roommate or, choosing someone at random; the decision was difficult. First of all, I realized I am a shy person when it comes to make the first move when talking to someone and second of all talking to a complete stranger online is kind of creepy. So I decided to let RESED choose someone for me, not realizing that this was actually a big thing since I was going to live with this person for a whole year.

A couple of weeks after I submitted the little survey you have to do I got the email saying who my roommate was going to be. An athlete. First of all I thought, oh my God, I am going to have absolutely nothing in common with this person, especially since I am very lazy and had not worked out the entire summer. Anyways, we started talking, and she asked me the stereotypical question I always get asked “since you are from Guatemala, what is it like there? Do you guys have Starbucks?”. Not going to deny the fact that this actually made me laugh but I knew this was going to be an interesting experience because we both come from two different cultures and backgrounds.

We talked the entire summer and when the time came we finally met. This sounds kind of romantic, I know, but let me tell you that random roommate assignment was the best decision I could ever have made.

“Roommates by fate, Friends by choice” has become our motto and every single day after all our work we come together and bond over really random things. We are so different but similar at the same time. We both have the sarcastic sense of humor no one else understands. We already have our inside jokes but specially we respect each other’s space. When you come into our room you will know which side is mine and which side is hers, but in the end our room looks perfect showing both our personalities and different backgrounds.

My roommate is one of my best friends and absolutely will be even though next year we might not live together. We have shared so much already that I cannot imagine not waking up at 6am every day, because she has to go to x-country practice, or not having to sleep early during the week because 11pm is already past her bedtime. I had to adjust major things in my lifestyle to fit hers but definitively worth it because in the end, we are roommates.