Coming to the University of Florida, moving in with random roommates was a scary thought. Were they crazy? Were they uptight, or were they slobs? I never would’ve imagined that these random people would turn into my best friends, let alone the guys across the hall.
It all began on move-in day. I parked my car and went into my apartment’s office building to get my key and sign a few papers. A few weeks before move-in day, my apartment complex sent us the names of who our roommates were going to be. Within a few hours, I had a friend request on Instagram from two out of three of my roommates, Taylor and Anabell. They were already best friends before I had even met them. Recalling their profile pictures, I figured out they were standing in front of me in line to get our keys. I walked a little further up and said, “I’m pretty sure y’all are my roommates”. I thought maybe they’d be creeped out or think I was weird, but to my surprise Taylor turned around and said, “Yeah we thought so,” and we all laughed.
And with that, a friendship was born.
Move-in day was chaotic to say the least. We walked into our furniture upside down, couch cushions in the bedrooms, and eggs and milk in our cabinets. Also bugs, bugs and more bugs.
We were already unhappy when a guy in a hazmat suit walks in and tells us he is resurfacing our tub, and we could stay if we wanted but he wouldn’t recommend. Anabell and Taylor went to go buy things for their bedrooms and my mom and I went to go get dinner at Red Robin, where I would be a server in a week. After wasting a few hours so the guy could finish our bathrooms, we finally returned to do some serious cleaning.
Thank God for moms.
We came with cleaning supplies, but not the ones necessary to disinfect the entire place. With love, our moms sent us to the store with a list, including lots of bleach.
We spent the entire night and next day disinfecting the entire place. It was some quality bonding time.
We eventually said goodbye to our moms, and it was just us.
I never had any brothers and sisters, so this experience was all new to me. Having Taylor barge into my room earlier in the morning to rant about something that happened, or Anabell dragging me out to go have fun. The biggest thing I had to get used to was sharing food. When a roommate asks you for food when you are cooking it is easy to say “Sorry, this is going to be my lunch tomorrow.” But, when your best friends ask you, how am I supposed to say no to that? The longer we spent together, the better friends we became.
But wait, there’s more.
The guys across the hall always had their music blaring. Eventually, I confronted them and said, “If you’re going to throw parties, at least invite us.” And once again, a friendship was born.
For about a month before that we had mysterious people knocking at our door and running away. We began to be ready for the knocks and open the door right after we heard it. We came to the realization that no one could escape that quickly unless they went right across the hall. Being the mature adults we are, we began to knock on their door as well. It came to the point as they were about to knock we would open the door.
Little did we know we would soon never spend a day apart, whether it is just talking about our day or taking our nightly trips to the hot tub.
From walking across the hall with news because they are the first people we tell it to, to coming home from work and having everyone in one place.
One day my roommates and I stumbled across a church named “Alive”. It turned into our home church and eventually the guys started going with us, too. Our little group wakes up early and gets brunch every Sunday. We even adjusted our work schedules so we can go every week. Honestly, it is my favorite part of the week.
I wouldn’t trade my group of people for anything. Everyone brings something different to the group. There is Taylor: a bright ball of sunshine that isn’t afraid to tell you that you’re wrong. There’s Anabell: the fun one that will most likely be the one to get everyone into trouble. Then there’s Torry: the goofball, but the most down to earth guy I know. There’s Joe: a super sweet guy that will 10/10 make you laugh. And last but not least, Chris: a fellow lover of cats that will drink your pre-workout but watch movies with you whenever you want.
I know that every single one of these people have my back and they know I have theirs. It is crazy to think about how the friends you just met in college can become better friends than some of the people you have known since middle school.
I’ve learned open myself up to new experiences. You never know, after all. The people you think of as a page in your life may end up staying for a whole chapter, and maybe even the entire book.
