[Note: from here on out there are many "you had to be there" things...you've been warned. Read on if you dare.]
Kayla was my first roommate, so that one was easy to figure out. Still not sure how or why our room became the main hang out, but hey, it was fun. I bet it was the awesome Quote Wall. Then again, maybe it was that crazy-awesome hallway we had.
Okay, is is just me, or did Aaron seem to have just started tagging along after Arts and Ideas with a few of us back to our dorm floor to hang out? I think it was The Green Blanket that kept bringing him back.In my mind he really just suddenly became a permanent fixture in our group. Not that any of us minded knowing the Muffin Man...
And Papa Patrick. Wasn't that because of Arts and Ideas, too?
Nicole was the neighbor that was always dropping by and making fun of herself for it, but I always loved when she would pop in. We had so many conversations about the most random things while she ate her cereal in The Purple Chair. Yup, definitely my favorite next-door neighbor in college.
Jen has two contributing factors from what I recall: Arts and Ideas and Nicole. We had that class, and I think Nicole and Jen would come to Kayla's and my room a lot together...after bonding from many a late night spent together. You crazy night owls.
Jason definitely was from that math class with the cranky old prof who had a crush on him which led her to occasionally give him better grades than me. That one time where I organized his math notes for him was probably the gateway to him hanging out with us all so much because he realized how awesome the people on our floor were (including honorary members Nordy and Papa Patrick), especially Jen. (Awww!)
That really was one of all-time favorite years of college. We had a lot of drama at times, but we were comfortable together. We acted crazy-silly (Mission 3rd Krauss, Triangle snowball fights, Christmas parties, and pick-up line competitions, anyone?) or annoyed one another once in a while (those smelly BOY FEET, hair on the floor, silly Cardinal fans...). We could hand out in PJs or get all jazzed up -- sometimes even in the same day. We laughed together, cried, or just hung out watching movies in the lounge as the early morning hours came our way. [And by "early hours" I really mean "ridiculously late."]
I really miss it at times. It's funny to think how a few months' time and moving to buildings just a stone's throw away from our freshman hall changed it all. Dynamics shifted as people came and went from that original group. Fights happened. Relationships grew while romances died, and vice versa. Tough events shook us and tested our bonds but strengthened them when all was said and done. Laughter, tears, and words were still shared.
What's beautiful are the times where we still are able to do that. It's never going to be quite like that first year because it's next to impossible to be in the same place at the same time (although Chicago a few years back was pretty darn close!), but friendships like that never really fully lose their magic regardless of time or distance.
To be honest, I think part of it is how much I miss the security of having that group. The independence of being away at school while still being able to depend on a few someones. The adventures. The familiarity. Being able to muddle through it all so very together. We were each other's stability.
Sometimes it's hard to see where life has taken us all and to believe we all were ever those people who bonded in The Mouse House, the ones just starting out and dreaming of what life after college would be like. And yet...here we all are, all over the country, doing amazing things.
And now to leave you with a fitting portion of one of the things that bonded us that year... Wicked...
So much of me is made of what I learned from you,
You'll be with me like a hand print on my heart.
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.
["For Good"]
1 comment:
Awwwww. Now I'm all nostalgic for my college days and trying to figure out how exactly we all became friends too...
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