During my freshman year at FSU, I moved into Jennie Murphree Hall for my spring semester with a girl I had gotten close to online and shared a friend group with. Turns out, we got along a lot better when we weren’t living together. At first, it started out as little things we didn’t agree on, like quiet hours and cleaning habits. Nevertheless, we signed a lease together since we hardly knew anyone else at FSU. When we moved into our apartment in the fall, all hell broke loose. The beginning of the semester was the “honeymoon” period, when we hung out with our friend group all the time and never worried much about our old qualms. By the two-month mark, I put my apartment unit up for sublease and signed a spring dorm contract. Â
Winter break that year made me feel so lost and lonely in the sea of FSU undergraduate students. I lost my entire friend group and would be moving in with entirely new people. Then the dreaded news came—I was placed in Salley Hall. I was defeated and felt like my college experience was unsalvageable. Little did I know, things were about to get so much better. Â
After I moved out of my toxic apartment, I was able to find myself and the things I really enjoyed about college. I decided I had to make the most of my new dorm room in Salley Hall. I was terrified to move into Salley after all of the rumors I heard about that dreaded dorm, much less with strangers. However, those girls ended up becoming my best friends at FSU. Even a year later and spread across campus, we see each other often. I will always have our fond memories of going to sorority formal, Seminole Cafe, and the Leach Gym together, as well as all of the inside jokes we made together. I cannot wait to casually bring up my spectacular college roommates to my kids and friends when I’m older.Â
I also decided to apply to study abroad. I needed a way to make some new friends, and thought that the program would open me up to more people and a fresh environment. I ended up getting into the study abroad program in Florence, Italy for the Fall 2022 semester. While I was there, I met so many amazing new friends and gained another fantastic roommate. She and I were two peas in a pod there, hardly ever one without the other. We traveled together and shared some of our most personal stories with one another, developing a close bond. Even back in Tallahassee, we see each other about once a week because we miss living together so much.Â
I also threw myself into my Her Campus articles, work, and schoolwork. I had time to write more frequently for Her Campus about topics that interested me and got to know the girls in the chapter better. I got an internship that helped guide me to figure out my career path after graduation. I formed better study habits to learn more efficiently and effectively; I was able to enjoy my major much more. Â
When I was experiencing roommate issues, it felt never-ending, like my college experience was ruined. But when I left, so many new relationships and opportunities became available to me. The world didn’t end and I worked to ensure my college experience was as positive as possible moving forward. I put myself in new, scary situations that I would never have done if I was still living with my negative roommates and it paid off over and over again. It’s been a year and a half since I moved out and it has been the best year and a half of my life. Â
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