Rolling With Revolving Roommates

Before I set foot in my college dorm room, I had three different roommates. Although I never even met two of them, they will always be a part of my story. That said, I’m using their real names. To change them would not do them justice, which I feel needs to be served after a whirlwind semester. So Orlandus, Cornelius, Joung-Won Kim: if you’re reading this, thank you for being unforgettable.

When UWM’s MyHousing was said to go public, I anxiously refreshed the page all day; I was ready to see the name of my very own college roommate—the person supposed to be my best friend for the rest of my life.

Orlandus Jackson’s name isn’t exactly what threw me off. It was that I couldn’t find any trace of him anywhere on social media. For weeks, I tried reaching out to him through MyHousing chat, but by July I accepted the fact that I would be moving in with a stranger.

Two days after an unexpected roommate switch, Orlandus added me on Facebook. He was 24, had three pictures of himself and only posted to wish everyone happy holidays. I see him around campus sometimes. He seems like a great guy.

Cornelius Hester (who had a Facebook and seemed awesome) was listed on MyHousing for two weeks before my roommate’s name switched again to Joung-Won Kim, who I lived with for five months. He was 21, from South Korea and spoke a limited amount of English. It would be generous to say we communicated with about 20 words. He was rarely ever in the room, but when he was he would sleep a minimum of 12 hours.

Among the few words we said, he told me in February that he was moving out. My fourth and final roommate—Kyle—moved in and things worked out great.

Though nothing could have prepared me for my living situation, I wouldn’t have survived without rolling with the punches. College is made out to be a lot of things that it frankly isn’t; it’s up to students to take charge and not live according to preconceptions or the perfect lives we see on social media.

I rarely ever see the four guys who were supposed to be my best friend(s) forever. But coming back home, I had one hell of a story. I will always push my high school friends to try out random roommates. One thing is for certain: it could never be weirder than my situation. Regardless, you never know what could be waiting for you behind that dorm room door.