I never had the opportunity to have the full college experience, as I went to a 33 month diploma nursing school program. I did, however, live in what we called the Nurse's Residence for that time. Guys were not allowed past the housemother, who was seated in the lobby 24/7. There were 59 students in my class, and I would say about 2/3 of them lived in the 'Res', as we nicknamed it.
My first roomie was from a place named Dallas, PA, which is somewhere near the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. There wasn't Facebook, MySpace, cell phones, texting, instant messaging or any of that stuff back then. I met Ann for the first time, the day we were to arrive prior to the start of classes. She didn't last long, because she was terribly homesick and ended up quitting the program in order to be able to move back home!
Very conveniently, I had met this other girl named Monica who lived across the hall from me and we hit it off from the start. So when Ann left, it seemed to make sense that she would move in with me. After getting permission, Monica moved in with me. The rest is history! We have remained friends since graduation in 1980...we even lived together for a time prior to getting married to our husbands. Over the last few years we seem to have lost close touch, but I think with good reason. Our children, who used to be close when younger, have gone their own ways and become interested in different things, thus don't see each other much any more. In addition, their classes are so big, that they don't have many classes together. And unfortunately with family responsibilities, we are both busy, not giving us much free time to spend together.
I guess I have roommates on the mind, because Alyssa has not had a good experience with her first one at PSU. Fortunately, she has a different one for the fall. She and her roommate don't even talk, which I find so sad. I don't want to get specific, but the roommate has done some less than desirable things towards Alyssa. I can't imagine having to live in a tense situation and not having someone to share things with. Alyssa has reacted very maturely in response to the situations, however. I remember all the fun things that Monica and I did in nursing school; Alyssa doesn't have that opportunity. I am praying that she has better luck this coming fall. She has met her new roommate on Facebook, but they haven't talked yet. I feel strongly that this Facebook/email thing isn't enough; I have encouraged Alyssa to call her. Things can be misinterpreted in email; I think talking is a much better way to do it.
We all know Alyssa and how kind, mature, responsible and caring she is; she doesn't deserve this treatment. We also know that she would never do anything intentional to bring on a situation or aggravate someone. Hopefully things will be better this fall.
Oh, and P.S.....She comes home in TWO weeks...yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!
4 comments:
i hope things go better for alyssa in the fall too!! its so unfortunate that she has to deal with this girl now but maybe that means that only good things can happen from here.
I know Alyssa's tough , resilient, and is showing plenty of Grace right now. I pray she has a great experience in the fall and finds strength for the last 2 weeks. It's a shame people aren't more giving to one another. At least she has a new roommate to look forward to!
I can't believe Alyssa will be home in two weeks! The time has flown quickly but maybe not for you? I hope she knows what that word means from English that she had no idea about a few weeks ago. (I can't remember the word now.)
Roommates can make college so much fun. I hope she gets a good one for the fall.
I remember talking on the phone so long that my father told me the wires were going to burn. Kids don't phone each other today. They rely on other types of communication, which as you said can be misinterpreted.
That is such a shame about Alyssa's roommate. My daughter Laura (who is really really shy) had problems in that area too at times. And it can be tough. Eventually she resolved her problem by being a dorm monitor (I forget what it is called) and got to have her own room.
Anyway, I do hope things will go better with her new roommate.
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