Monday, May 19, 2014

College Life: A New Series, Episode 1, Roommates

It's probably good that Momarazzi didn't come to college with me, all things considered, but I sure wish I had pictures of some of these people and events.

It's my intention that for your summer entertainment, I write a series of posts about some of the stupid, hilarious, dangerous, risky, and otherwise noteworthy incidents of my college days. Names have been changed to protect...everyone but me.

I graduated from a small, Christian high school in 1984.   We had a whopping 62 in our graduating class.  The Engineer was one of them.  We'd been dating since December.  I was off to Colorado State University, home of a good math program, and a fairly straight forward path to simultaneously obtaining a teaching certificate.  My whole life I'd known I wanted to be a teacher, and I'd always loved (and excelled) at math.

CSU was a comfortable distance from home (about an hour). I was fairly certain there would be no unexpected drop-in family visitors, yet I could easily go home for the weekend should I choose.  

The Engineer was going an uncomfortable distance away to a tiny town in Iowa, home of the Alma-Mater of both his parents, and home town of his mother.  We did not want to be separated.  However, we were reasonable people (surprising, isn't it?) and decided that we'd date others, and just see what happened between August and Thanksgiving, which was when we'd next see each other.

My entire family moved me into the dorm, which I'd chosen carefully, but not carefully enough.  I'd read the descriptions, and chosen the one with the courtyard, with suites, connected by a shared with the other room only, and NOT communal locker-room type bathing amenities.  I was on the fourth floor, on the inside, with a great view of the courtyard.

As we trudged up the stairs with all my stuff, we were greeted at the top with a big sign, "Fourth Floor Girls Have Firmer Thighs!"  That suited me just fine.  All that was left was to meet my roommate, and our suite-mates.  I was of course hoping to be first to stake my claim and all that territorial stuff, but when I entered my (oh my gosh were they small) room, I found that she'd already done so, had stuff strewn everywhere, and had something in every closet, drawer, etc. No discernible difference between "my side" and "her side."

I did not like this at all.  It was bad enough to be sharing a room, but I had NOT pictured to co-mingling of our lives quite to that extent.  She had left me the bed under the window, for which I was grateful.  Now all that was left was to meet her, and set some ground rules of co-habitation.

Meeting the farmer's daughter from small-town Iowa would have to wait though, as she was already off being the social butterfly.  She'd left me a note, though, which I appreciated.

Ms. Mary-Jo Butler turned out to be quite the, um, interesting roommate, and the other room of our suite was occupied by ONLY a junior who had earned the privilege of a single room. Meeting Ms. Cheerleader USA had to wait, too, because she came two days later.  Can you see me fitting in well with these two?  Make your predictions now.

Do you have some college stories to share?  Anyone else who writes random stuff on their blog want to join me in this summer series?

~Tina, lots of up her sleeve, but had to set the stage

29 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Roommates not of your choosing always sucks. My first year, I was stuck with the beer elves until they flunked out. After that, I lived off campus with an awesome roommate.

Andrea said...

I remember walking down the hall and hoping that powder blue satin comforter was not in room 213...it was! She had been deferred to start at another school, Cornell, in January, so it felt kind of like a "why bother?" sort of thing.

Mason Canyon said...

This is going to be an awesome series. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Brian Miller said...

ha. um. the perspective of me would change quite dramatically if i started sharing those stories....college was um....interesting...smiles...

Jo said...

Having been to boarding school I never had a choice of room mates, and there were always lots of us. It soon gets rid of false modesty let me tell you.

Stephanie Faris said...

I can only imagine what a shock it must be to go from a Christian high school to a secular university. Whoa! My first year of college was at a community college, so I lived at home. Then I transferred to a state university and lived in a dorm. I remember how scary it is--but still today, I don't like venturing out into the unknown. If there's one thing I've learned, though, it's that those terrifying changes lead to the best memories of your life!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I didn't go to college, so I missed that experience. Plus I was a bit of a wild child (although a great student) so I might've been the roommate who scared you.

Kate @ Another Clean Slate said...

I'm going to like this series a lot! Can't wait to hear more about the roomies.

klahanie said...

Hi human, Tina,

You've gone all pawlific and I'm sorry I cannot keep up with you. Forgive me? Arf and yikes! :)

Ah, such college tales and more to come. My human certainly knows of room-mates. I pawdict you had some rather bizarre situations with your room-mates. One needs their own space and that can be quite the pawblem in such a set up.

Thank you, dear human.

Penny :)

A Beer for the Shower said...

How long is this summer series going on? (All summer?) We might have some fun college stories to share, and no, none of them nearly as "Animal House" as you think. But fun nonetheless.

I went to a tech school, and was completely out of place (too jockish to be a nerd, too nerdish to be a jock) and Brandon went to CU to become a psychologist. We see how that worked out. :)

I never shared a room with anyone, because I would probably murder someone the second they ate my food. As an amateur fat guy, I say don't touch my food.

cleemckenzie said...

I had to move three times before I landed with two girls I got along with. In fact, we're still good friends. One writes books. The other writes poetry. We were a match and still are.

I'm only guessing, but you moved, too, right?

JoJo said...

Wow. I can certainly relate, that's for sure. Imagine going from being an only child in a rural part of town (read: QUIET!), thrown into a tiny room with TWO roommates in a dorm full of other young women. We had one huge communal bathroom with 8 toilet stalls, 6 shower stalls and about 12 sinks. It was basically survival of the fittest. I am tempted to join you on this journey this summer b/c I have a lot of great stories from that time in my life, which I also call, 'Underage Drinking 101'.

JoJo said...

PS It's true what they say that women who live together end up on the same cycle.

Andrew Leon said...

Actually, "The Magic Cookies" is one of my college stories. Mostly. I intend to fictionalize more of those to make into a collection some day.

~Sia McKye~ said...

Never did dorm life. I lived in a rooming house ran by a sweet older lady with a whip--meaning rules. Yard outside and close to everything which was great since I didn't have a car as yet.

For me, college was serious business and not a lot of play. I footed my own bill and I also worked 30 hours a week on top of a full course load.

Can't wait to see how you set the ground rules and if they were actually abided by. :-)

BTW you won a book on my blog.

Sia McKye Over Coffee

Rachel said...

I don't have any college stories! I sort of feel like I'm missing out, but then I realize I have enough to deal with thanks to Roommate's inability to use a broom. Having a small dorm or locker room bathrooms would drive me up the wall. I think I actually dodged a bullet haha. One day, though, I would like to take some classes just to further my education. But that will be when I have time and money (and a high school diploma).

Unknown said...

I was the resident geek at college, reliably located in the library at all hours it was open. I did get along pretty ok with some of roomies, but that's to their credit :). Looking forward to this series, Tina!

Al Diaz said...

I never went to College for dragons. I still regret it. I am sure even with its ups and downs I would have enjoyed it.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Tina .. gosh that wouldn't have suited me either .. but I look forward to hearing how you all got on ... still I suspect Ms Mathematician worked a few magical puzzle tricks out and came out on on a winning streak ...

I wonder what they were studying .. both of them? Interesting you decided to see what happened date-wise during the first period August to Thanksgiving ...

Well it worked out .. that much we know!

Cheers and happy memories .. Hilary

Briane said...

I don't think my college stories would compare to other people's. Other than when I decided I wanted the nickname "Chaz" for a while (and got some people to call me that.) Then again, that's not such a great story; that was the whole thing, right there.

But I'm looking forward to these. I like the roommate who took the entire room first thing.

Anonymous said...

You married your high school sweetheart?! That is so cool!

M. J.

Writing Tips

Michelle Wallace said...

My college stories are filled with all sorts of things... an emotional/social/political turmoil...
Writer In Transit

Gina Gao said...

I have more than my fair share of crazy college stories so far, and I'm only wrapping up my first year in college!

www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

Claudia said...

haha... roommate stories probably could fill whole books... my daughter is just about to move out into a shared flat and the little one as well when she goes to university...

Unknown said...

After spending a week in a dorm for cheer camp, I opted to live off campus with two of my best buds from high school. It was hectic, expensive and worth it!

Anonymous said...

I love my college days and have many experience in hostel. But enjoyed all the moments!

Anonymous said...

OMG I certainly look forward to reliving YOUR escapades, but my own?!? Not so sure I want to relive them. Definitely not sure I want to make them available for public consumption.

All I can say is my freshman year at a huge university in 1969 - the height of race riots, (un)civil disobedience, free love (aka sex)was a bewildered walk around campus wondering, "Where are the adults?"

Cathy Kennedy said...

This should be a fun series. I look forward to reading more about your college life antics. As for me...I was already married when I started college. So, DH was my room mate. We didn't live in a dorm, though. We had just moved into our first home (and the one we're still in). I was a child bride. We got married in between my junior and senior year of high school. Shoot, I can't remember too much about college life. I graduated college the year you started, so I have a few years up on you. I guess my memory is going. lol

Anonymous said...

I am so excited about your series! My college days are filled with such fond and fun memories. I might consider joining you on this series idea...if I can come up with enough stuff to post that won't get me in too much trouble... :)