Dinner's On Me

The roommate horror stories. Ugh. How many times before I came to college did I hear that so and so got stuck with a girl that popped molly and had her boyfriend over every night? How many times did I hear that so and so's roommate stayed up until four in the morning and never took a shower? I heard stories about girls that did everything they could to make their roommates life a living hell. The thing is, though, I wasn't scared of a roommate when I came to college. I was ready to break free and embrace the "newness" that my college life would have to offer. So you know what I did? I spent months investigating the Penn State Class of 2021 Facebook page in hopes that I would find someone who I thought would become my newest best friend. However, because of the way I am (picky, high standards, blah, blah, blah) I just couldn't find anyone. Instead, I embraced the idea of a random roommate. Random. Scary. All of my friends cringed.  

I sent in my housing contract with no roommate preferences. Random. Scary. Then, I waited three months. I actually forgot that I was getting a roommate. Granted, I was on a three-week road trip in the southwest United States with my grandpa who I'd never spent a significant amount of time with before. Needless to say, when some of my friends from high school who were also coming to Penn State texted me about finding out about my roommate, I was a bit anxious. I had completely forgot. The anticipation and anxiety of finding out who I would be living with for the next year hit me like a brick wall all at once rather than being dissipated over the three-months of waiting. 

I logged into e-living and there it was. A name. One simple name that I believed could make or break my college career. Of course immediately I went to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Google, MySpace... Okay, I couldn't find my roommate on MySpace, but I used my investigative skills to say the least. Once I had found out everything I could about this girl, I began to formulate my initial greeting. *clears throat* Dear Amy Sjoberg, my name is Lucy Spicher and I'll be living with you for the next year of our lives. Welcome to my life. 

Just kidding, I'm not actually that formal or that awkward. But I did introduce myself and all of my worries faded away. I actually found the best roommate ever! By picking her at random. Random. Awesome. 

So the deal is, my roommate and I are best friends now, and I couldn't imagine my freshman year of college any other way. We eat meals together and go on runs together and sometimes we do crafts and eat ungodly amounts of ice cream together. Yet, as the semester continues to drag my soul from my body, I think we both have settled into the mid-semester "funk." I was looking for a way to reconnect and have some fun lately. She invited me to late-night for dinner, and I'm not much of a "eat lots of food after my bedtime and then finish my blog at three in the morning" kind of person, but today, that's what I settled for, and I did it for her. 

I met my roommate for dinner, and as awkward as I am, I slipped in between an entire group of people so that I could stand in front of her in line. Yes, it was pretty awkward and yes, I got questioned why I didn't want to pay first. Then, when I handed the cashier my card for dinner, I asked that she swipe for my roommate too!

OH MY GOD. My roommate freaked out. She straight up refused. "No no no. I'm not going to let you do that." The cashier was spooked. I just laughed, probably uncomfortably loudly, and said, "yes, I'm sure I want to pay. Just let me do it." The cashier swiped my card for both of us, and my roommate gave me that sly little you didn't have to do that but I appreciate you look. My tiny little heart was full. 

"I better look good if I'm going to be blog famous" - Amy Sjoberg

Moral of the story, my roommate and I ate more mac and cheese than humanely possible, and then topped it off with enough "Monster Mash" ice cream to chill my warm little heart. 

The best part, though, is that I feel just a little bit closer with my roommate. Buying her dinner may seem trivial, but to me, I felt like connecting with her and actually sitting down to dinner and hanging out rather than sitting at our desks with our backs to each other doing homework was good for both of us. College can begin to feel monotonous and even lonely, but you have to be able to find people you can trust. Good people. People who will be there for you when you need them to be, and who will leave you alone (especially when they have three hours of homework left to do and all you want to do is sleep). 

My advice for all of you is to make sure you find good people in this world. So many people get caught up in their own little worlds, but if you find someone who is willing to support you when the going gets rough, hold on to them. Hold them tightly and never let go. Friendships are worth more than the price of dinner.