Saying Hello to Strangers #5 – Amanda

Oddly enough, my roommate and I went a whole month into school before we met any of our “neighbors” living right around us in our hall. We realized this but then thought it was too late at that point to go knock on people’s doors to introduce ourselves. However, one fateful evening, there was an obnoxiously loud noise coming from outside. I opened our door and my roommate and I peeked out into the hall to discover about 9 other girls poking their heads into the hall all around us. We looked around, remarking to each other and wondering what the loud noise was. Then, we all seemed to migrate into the hall and form a clump. One of the other girls pointed out the fact that it was crazy that it had been a month and none of us knew each other yet, to which we all agreed and started introducing ourselves. We shared our names, majors, where we were from, what kinds of activities we were involved in, and our contact info, and soon just peeking our heads out the door turned into an hour and a half conversation in the hallway! Well, that is, until we were reprimanded for gathering in the hallway and had to return to our rooms.

One girl in particular, Amanda, I had run into in the bathroom numerous times but never introduced myself to. However, I now knew her name and that she lived right across the hall! She and her roommate, Maddie, are two of only five freshmen on the lionettes dance team, which I find pretty impressive. Although the other girls were friendly enough, I really hit it off with Amanda. She seemed really sweet and down to earth and we share some academic interests in common. Soon after this hallway encounter, my roommate and I began the dreaded apartment search for next year. However, we were overwhelmed and had no idea where to even look. I knew that Amanda and Maddie had already started applying to apartments for next year, so I texted Amanda to ask her if she had any suggestions. I was surprised when she responded and said that she and Maddie would share an apartment with us next year if we were interested! We barely knew each other, but somehow my roommate and I knew from our first impressions of the two girls that we would get along well. Alas, about a week later, the four of us entered into a housing contract for next year!

Over time, Elena and I have gotten to know Amanda and Maddie more and more by getting meals with them, stopping by each other’s rooms every so often, and even going as their dates to the lionettes formal! I have grown closer to Amanda in particular because I feel like we have a lot in common, and we often run into each other either in the bathroom (haha) or at the dining hall. In addition, I recently joined an a cappella group called Savoir Faire. On the first day of rehearsal, one of the other girls in the group, Lilly, said to me, “you know Amanda right?” to which I replied, “yeah, we’re going to be roommates next year!” And then Lilly replied that she had met Amanda in one of her classes last fall and she is now one of her best friends! Talk about another crazy connection. Lilly is one of my favorites in the group and she and I are quickly becoming friends. I find it crazy to think that, even if we had not been in the same a cappella group, Lilly and I probably would have still met eventually through Amanda and would have ended up at least acquaintances, if not friends, anyways. Or alternatively, Amanda and I might have ended up becoming friends through Lilly anyways due to the a cappella group. If there had never been an obnoxious noise in the hallway that one day, who knows who I would be living with next year and if I would have ended up making these same connections anyway – maybe it’s up to fate.