What Having a Random Roommate Taught Me About Myself

Okay so I’m only partially joking. I have seen her since I pulled an Irish goodbye two years ago on move-out day. Not cool on my part but if I had known about the year I was about to have and could’ve had a chance to switch roommates earlier on, maybe I would’ve had a little more empathy.

Nowadays, as we get into a more digital era of life, finding a roommate is easy cause they have all these websites, facebook groups, and instagram. I applied to my University three months before freshman year started (that’s a story for another blog), so with a late acceptance comes no chance to accept the fact that you’re gonna be paired with some rando who could be so totally weird. 

Sometimes I look back and try to convince myself it wasn’t that bad but… it was. There’s no denying it. One minute you think she’s this sweet girl who you can bond with and become best friends with and the next you wake up to her dirty talking on top of a random guy, in which she leaves in her bed sleeping for 4 hours while she’s out doing who knows what. SO AWKWARD.

As traumatized as I am from my random roommate, it also taught me so much about myself and boundaries. Seeing someone who can be so messy and careless about the world was lowkey inspiring. I may never have sand falling out of my bed onto the piles of clothes on the floor, but I have learned how to find some comfort in the chaos. I used to never get into bed without showering and putting on clean clothes, but now I am a little more lenient about that. I’ve learned to hop on top of my sheets in outside clothes... Okay so I’m only joking; It brought some serious clarity to how much of a neat freak I was and that reflected on my life a lot. I’m sure you’ve heard someone say at least once that your bedroom reflects your brain. Well, it’s true. Just like inside how I was trying to hold it all together, so was my room. 

Having a random roommate also taught me a lot about other people. Although I’ve been in all my friends' bedrooms growing up, living with someone truly takes the cake on understanding how other people live their lives. Seeing what she would do when she just felt like lying around, seeing how she got ready, and seeing what she did when I was asleep was truly eye opening. I felt like I got to see the real, unfiltered version that she masked every time she went out the door. As time went on I really started to see beneath the mess and the “cool girl” act and I saw a human being. I believe that beneath everyone’s outside persona, there’s just a human under there that wants to be loved and be able to be themselves. From the start of freshman year to the end, I gained a whole wave of empathy for others. I feel like I can truly put myself in other’s shoes and understand their feelings which reflect on myself. Since before we even were a thought in our parents’ eyes, there was always the phrase, Treat Others The Way You Want To Be Treated.

Whether you’re reading this looking back at your personal random roommate experience or you’re about to go through it, just know it’ll be okay. Yes it can go south and you can live in a sandy, messy room with a girl who comes in blackout drunk at 2am everynight, but there is always the chance to meet your forever friend. I met mine mid-freshman year when I shared my crazy stories with the sweetest girl on earth and she took me in to be her roommate like a stray dog that’s been sitting out in the rain. 

I would’ve never found her if I wasn't in the situation I was in, so to my old roommate: Do I miss living with you? Honestly a little bit. Would I do it again? Heck no. Am I thankful for the experience? Thankful can't even begin to describe how I feel.