Roommates: Living With Other People!

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Before your freshman year at Mudd, you fill out a long questionnaire about everything from when you go to bed to what you like to read. Those answers are used to place you in a dorm and with roommates. It worked out incredibly well for me. This year, I was in a Drinkward triple with two other people, Hannah and Anya. The three of us have similar interests (but also turned out to each have a brother the same age which was not something on the form and just a fun coincidence). We had a lot of fun, so I thought I’d share some of our thoughts on what its like to live with roommates!

Roommates mean someone to geek out with!

Our shared interests extend in many ways. Between the three of us, our favorite authors’ list overlap quite a bit, including Rick Riordan and Brandon Sanderson. This does have some drawbacks (like if a new book comes out and your roommate screams in the middle of the night while reading it before you have read it..) but is mostly amazing. For Halloween last year, we even did a group costume based on a book that we all liked.

The three of us standing together outside Drinkward

Our attempt at dressing up as the Wiggin siblings from Ender’s Game for Halloween

We also share similar tastes in TV shows, which resulted in our weekly tradition of Friday night viewings of Sherlock.

Roommates mean someone to study with!

Homework and studying at Mudd is a collaborative effort. Because of the core, my roommates and I were in mostly the same classes this year. This gave us a very easy place to go with questions. It especially helped that the three of us have different academic interest, and thus could cover all of the classes between us!

The three of us sitting in a circle on a rug with textbooks and paper

Studying chem together

Even though we aren’t physically living together right now (and are spread across a couple of time zones) we’ve continued to study together via video calls. Having a network of support was really instrumental in how I adjusted to college, and Hannah and Anya definitely formed the base of that support.

Roommates mean someone to go to events with!

I’ve talked on the blog a little bit about what I enjoy doing. I often go to those types of events with my roommates. For example, when the DSA Muchachos held a cookie decorating event (blog post about these events), I went with Anya and Hannah.

Two decorated cookies on a plate, one with autumn trees and one with a geometric brown and white design.

Anya’s cookies were significantly better decorated than mine

Three cookies, each decorated with brown frosting and colored lines/dots

My attempt at decorating cookies

Hannah and I took Beginner Ballroom Dancing together for our PE, and went to the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company’s Masquerade!

Me sitting in front of a group of dancers warming up

I don’t actually I a photo of us together, but here I am in front of their warm-up

Hannah in front of a group of dancers

Hannah, a couple of minutes after the photo of me

The three of us also go to the farmer’s market together most Sundays!

A table covered with cartons of fresh berries

A wide variety of berries at the Farmer’s Market

Altogether, living with roommates has definitely been a positive experience for me!