A new hope

“Hello, my name is Mary Ruane and I’m from Mountainside, New Jersey.” No, scratch that. They don’t care where you’re from, besides that’s too formal. Okay, start again. “Hey! I’m Mary! I’m a recent high school graduate.” Honey, they’re all recent high school graduates. You aren’t special. Deep breath, one more time. “I like J-Cole and Chance the Rapper-” Listening to one album and liking three songs on it is not liking J-Cole, Mary. Stop trying so hard to fit in. This is just a Facebook group chat, you aren’t about to find your new college best friend on Facebook.
Why are all these kids looking for roommates? We don’t even get to– what roommate lottery? Check my what? They send emails to your school email before school? Oh no, why didn’t I fill out the housing application earlier? My portal was completely screwed up for like two weeks, I couldn’t have-hey wait, you have a pretty low lottery number. This might not be so–what do you mean I can’t choose a room without a roommate the first day? Back to Facebook. What if I embarrassed myself too much the first time and now no one wants to be my friend, let alone live with me?
I have three days to find a roommate. Three days left and I’m in a different state with horrible wifi, I can barely write a normal introduction for myself, and it seems like the Facebook group has turned into a complete meme-off between a couple of music and technology majors. But that’s alright, it’s okay, you’ve got this. At least you did have this until you got too scared you would screw up. Now, it’s the first day of picking rooms and you don’t have a roommate.
That room is cool, a couple of the kids at the pre-college program last year really liked that dorm hall-oh, it’s full. Well, what about-nope that’s full too. Hey wait, this floor is open and–someone is already in that dorm. But it’s just her, so she needs a roommate too. She seems to have all the same preferences as you–just pick that one. You get a roommate either way. Now find her on Facebook but please try not to look like you were completely stalking her two minutes ago. She messaged you. Act cool, you guys are talking! See? You made a friend, at least, I guess you did and school hasn’t even started yet! Try not to overthink this.
Dorm decorating. Blue and purple are nice colors, teenage girls like those colors. What about this comforter? Please don’t be that girl. Is the room even big enough for a fridge this size? How many girls do you think bought this exact curling iron? Why can’t college be easier? You know, go back to the days of pep rallies, AP Tests, and that’s enough reminiscing. Maybe college isn’t going to be so bad after all.
Here you are. Take a look around. The ‘Welcome to Hoboken’ sign is nearly blinding and somewhat inspiring. It feels like it was placed there just for you, it reads more like, “Hey kid, welcome home.” Despite all the worries the summer brought, you’re here. And kid, you made it. Welcome to the next four years.