Starting school at UNC was a big change for me. New people, a new environment, and more importantly a new place to call home. I remember signing up for housing in May before the following school year, and thinking “Wow, I will be living in one of these dorms this time next year.” While it is crazy to think about now, I never imagined the ways I would be impacted by my housing decisions. I have heard so many different stories about people’s experiences with roommates. When I filled out the roommate form, it was reassuring to see that schedules, preferences, and even habits were considered when deciding to go with a random roommate. Carolina Housing had a perfectly curated questionnaire that eased my mind with the decision of having a random roommate.
Now, in June, we were t-minus two months to moving in. I checked my housing portal and saw my fate, “Roommate Information: below if applicable.” I saw the name of the person I would be living with for the next year. I texted her first to get the conversation rolling. We hit it off. I was in town for orientation in July, and she drove over from Raleigh to meet up. We decided to get dinner at Cane’s even though she was vegan... iconic first dinner choice, to say the least. We went to Insomnia afterward and snacked on cookies when we sat on the quad and started to discuss our living habits and preferences. We both loved romantic T.V., like the show “One Day” on Netflix, which was a constant watch in our first semester. After we parted ways that night, I called my mom and was eager to share that we got along so well. Little did I know a great friendship awaited us.
Fast forward to August, and it was finally move in time! Marina and I moved in and began our iconic roommate story. During the first few weeks of classes, we spent every second together. We got dinner together every night and went to maybe a few too many CLE events. A big facet of our friendship was based on the fact that we lived together. In September, Marina mentioned that she would be studying abroad in the Spring through Carolina’s Spring Forward Program. She was going to be heading to Stirling, Scotland. I was heartbroken! We had become friends so quickly and were constantly laughing with one another, and I worried “If we were thousands of miles apart from one another would we still be friends?”
In December when it was time for finals, we were reminiscing on our amazing semester together, and the fact that she would soon be leaving for her Stirling semester. We enjoyed the moment and celebrated our last nights as roommates together. Marina left in mid-January for Scotland but was able to come visit and have a sleepover one last time in our dorm. We went to Cosmic Cantina and Yopo for her send-off. One too many CLE events later. This time a Halloween quad special with face painting! Ft. our RA’s great face painting!
With modern technology, our friendship would become even stronger despite the distance.
WhatsApp has become my favorite app. We send vlogs and pictures to one another every day outlining random things like grocery shopping, schoolwork, or even just an audible list of things we needed to get done. I can safely say we have sent at least a combined 100 videos while she has been abroad. We also decided to start having weekly video calls to keep up with each other and everything we are doing. We usually call every Sunday and can stay on the phone for up to an hour talking about our weeks.
I am so grateful that Marina and I have stayed in touch throughout her semester abroad!
Carolina Housing paved the way for this amazing friendship, and I’ll be forever grateful to the random roommate assigner who made that decision to pair Marina and me. I have a friend for life, and some of the best memories that made moving to a big new school ten times easier.
Shoutout to Random Roommate assignment for this amazing new friendship! Marina and I might just be the living proof that random roommate assignments can work out!
Cheers, Allie 🙂