My freshman year in college; I had no idea what to expect really. I was going to a school where I didn't know anyone and, as a 17-year-old hadn't completely come out of my shell. I was an easy going guy, so I wasn't too concerned about making friends. I knew they would come.
However, I was worried about my potential roommate. The idea of having a total stranger in the same bedroom as I was a totally foreign concept. I remember praying to the roommate gods the day before I moved my stuff into the dorm.
Hands clasped.
"Please Cthulhu, God of the Roommates. Bless me with someone who doesn't smell and has good taste in music."
I knew I was going to do fine academically and socially but living with someone that I didn't gel with seemed like it could spell certain disaster. I had heard the horror stories before and thought I was destined for that same fate.
I was wrong. I took the chance on a total stranger and it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. I lugged my linens and carried my clothes up to my room. There he was. We exchanged routine pleasantries. Both a little wary of one another. But he offered to help me with my TV. Now in these days, we still had tube TVs and they were as heavy as they looked. I thought it was a nice gesture on his part.
We finished setting up the room. Got some dinner in the mess hall. We talked music. We were both musicians and he was going to school for music production. It became obvious I was blinded by my own pessimism and fears. I had to learn to trust my peers, which is one of the more important life lessons you learn in college.
We went back to the dorm room and he set up a recording studio right in our room. We invited our suite-mates over and we had an icebreaker session. We recorded a rap song about our dinner. Not the most heavy-hitting material ever but everyone's personality came alive. And that's what I remember most from my first day at college.
We ended up living together for all four years of college and remain friends to this day. He even ended up recording my band's full-length album for his final project. He got an "A" on it, thanks in no part to my music.