The Freshman Dorm Experience

Sure, moving across the country was a little scary. Being that far away from all of my friends and family made me nervous. The college coursework was going to be harder than high school, and that seemed a little intimidating. But the thing that gave me the most anxiety was having a roommate I didn’t know. I had never shared a room before, let alone with a total stranger.

The survey for random roommate assignments came out in mid-June, and I filled it out with apprehension. “Could this question really help me find a good roommate?” “What if I don’t know if I want a small dorm or large?”  I didn’t think I was particularly messy, though my roommates would probably disagree. All of the questions seemed so trivial and uninformative. None of them would help someone get to know ME. I had heard the horror stories before of “roommates from hell” and I was terrified that that would be my situation.

I finally got my roommate assignment in the middle of July. I would be living in a triple! Nicholson 102. I certainly had mixed feelings about living in a triple. On one hand, the chances of me being friends with at least one of my roommates seemed good. On the other hand, I worried that the chances of not getting along with one of my roommates also increased. I decided that I would play it cool; I let my roommates email me first. I’m not going to lie, that first email I got from one of my roommates was one of the more awkward emails I have ever received.

Hello,
My name is Sam [ ], and this email is intended to reach my future freshman roommate at William and Mary, Adam D. Siegel. If this is you, please email me back.

 -Sam

Hey Sam,
This is Adam, your freshman roommate. Sorry I haven’t email you sooner, I’ve just been really busy. How’s it going. -Adam

Hey Adam, 
Nice to hear from you. No problem, I just wanted to get in touch before orientation began. Things are pretty good, lots of work this summer, but the countdown to orientation is getting shorter every day. I’m also in touch with Chris [ ], our other roommate, and we’re coordinating what we want to bring down to campus for our triple. Where are you from? And just wondering, do you have a Facebook account?

-Sam

Obviously we were destined to be best friends. Honestly, the future Facebook exchange with the third roommate was not much better. You would never know that these two guys are still some of my closest friends today. We moved in to Nicholson 102 on a Friday. By the next week, we were all evacuating to Chris’s house in the face of a hurricane. Though some would say that Nicholson is a less-than-desirable dorm, I absolutely loved it and wouldn’t change a thing!

I went on to live with Chris my sophomore year, hung out with both of them all the time junior year, and live off campus next to Sam as a senior, and we hang out almost every day. I don’t want to say that you are destined to be best friends with your freshman roommates, you might not even get along. But, you should know that you just might find a best friend when you say you stay up late, are “a little messy,” and want a small dorm. Even if you aren’t best friends, or friends at all, you are bound to find lasting friendships with people on your hall! The freshman dorm experience is one of my best memories from college, and I’m sure you all will feel the same way.

Congratulations again,
Adam