The hardest thing about college is, without a doubt, trying to live in twelve-by-twelve dorm room with another person. Not only do you need to find somebody who you're compatible with, but you have to find somebody who doesn't mind your Dunkin obsession or get totally freaked out when she walks into the room and sees you dancing like a lunatic because you're literally that stressed out about school. If you're lucky, you find somebody who watches all the same shows as you, enjoys the same snacks and will just start dancing with you when you've reached your breaking point. Like Meredith and Cristina would say-you need to find your person if you're going to successfully survive college.
1. Every freak out is an excuse to dance it out
When one of you walks into the room and finds the other one jumping up and, waving your arms in the air and shaking your hair out to some early 2000's pop song, you don't think that it's some strange sight and no part of you thinks that the other one has gone insane. Instead, you just throw your backpack to the ground and start dancing with them, because you could use the stress relief just as much as they could. Besides, your random dance-offs are always guaranteed to result in hysterical laughter (and a strange desire to start binge watching Grey's Anatomy).
2. They don't allow you to wallow in self-pity![]()
Even when all you want is to be left alone so that you can cry yourself to sleep curled up in your blankets because everything has just gotten to be too much to handle and you really just want to go home and have your mom hold you and take care of you like you're a five year old with the flu all over again, they refuse to allow that to happen. You're expected to sit there and allow them to sulk with you, because even if you can't handle talking about things yet, you aren't allowed to think that you're alone.
3. No boy will ever matter more to you![]()
You will always put one another first. It doesn't matter what's going on in your love life, because friends come first. No date or anniversary or cute boy who smiled at you in the dining hall is ever going to compare to your best friend when she's sitting in a helpless heap, barely able to speak. If she needs you, you're going to be there because, at the end of the day, when boys are being obnoxious and driving you absolutely insane because they're so hard to understand, you know that they'll always be there for you.
4. Sometimes you have to be their "mom"![]()
Even though the whole point of college is to have the time of your life away from your parents and to learn how to be a responsible member of society without somebody barking orders at you, sometimes you just have to be there to be a "college mom" to the other one. You offer a gentle reminder of all of the things that they should do, without any threat of a punishment if they don't actually do it. You wouldn't try to actually parent them, because that would be obnoxious and slightly overkill, but you do act as a conscience.
5. You're in it together ![]()
No matter what the situation is, you're in it together. You're the absolute best of friends and that means that they're problems are your problems and vice versa. You cry right along with them and rant about things that make them angry. You celebrate their successes together. Every single experience is a shared experience and sometimes you guys even refer to one another as a single unit, saying how "we" did something when really it was only one of you. You're so close and you do so much together that your other friends joke about how you're secretly one person.
6. You're family
When you're at college, the reason that you get homesick is typically because you miss having your family around you. That's why it's so important to have a roommate who can take care of you like a mother, fight with you like a sister and protect you like a father. They're your substitute family. The person that you depend on the most when you're miles away from home and it seems like your family is on another planet. Besides, it's so much easier to rant to them about your hectic life than it is to call up your biological sister and explain the entire situation to her.
7. You know just how special they are
They're the person who can make your entire day brighter just by asking you if you're feeling like making a Dunkin run because they can tell by 9 am that you're exhausted and going to be miserable all day if you don't get caffeine. They're the person who can make you burst out in hysterics when you don't even want to crack a smile and they're the person who relieves stress from your life by doing something absolutely ridiculous. They don't always realize just how special they are, so that's where you step in, to make sure they realize just how amazing they are, the same way they do for you.
