Confessions of a Monkey of All Sorts (Part One)

Many have heard tail of Bobo, the three-legged monkey ...

The idea of a roommate is scary. If you are like me, you were vaguely aware of this fact when moving away for college. It wasn't exactly something I was worried about ... that is, until I was faced with that fact upon recieving my Roommate Assignment in the mail from SFA. When that small piece of postcard came in the mail, it occured to me that I was going to be sharing a room much smaller than my room at the parents with someone I did not know at all. Was I going to be that guy with the awful roommate?

So, being the high school senior that I was, I figured out a list of what type of roommate this guy called Christopher could be, or any roommate for that fact. He could be several options: a) a cool guy that would never hang out with a loser like me; b) a fraternity guy that would come home at all hours of the night, drunk, and throwing up so I would have to take care of him, but still not be seen hanging out with a loser like me; c) a studious freak that got all A's in classes, friends with all the geeks, that wouldn't be caught dead with an idiot like me; d) a freak with friends from all kinds of backgrounds, but could not be seen with someone as average and normal as me. I had my roommate already fit into a multiple choice test. And sadly, these were not all the possibilities that I could come up with!

When move in day finally came, I had been prepared for the worst. I got to the room first with my parents and sister, and we moved my stuff in. Since I was first, I got to pick which side of the identical sides I wanted. After all my crap was moved in, here comes this roommate character that my postcard said would be Christopher. He walked in with his mom and looked around. His mom introduced herself and Nathan and all five of us stood in silence for about a ten seconds (and I'm not one to exaggerate, but it was the longest 10 seconds ever). Nathan and his mother went to go get his stuff, and I proceeded to wonder if I was in the right room, if my postcard had lied to me, and many other possibilities. I mean, I had prepared myself for a Christopher, not a Nathan. Think of all the other possibilities that could come with a Nathan that I had not prepared for!

The parental units left us and it was our first night as roommates. I only knew two people in Nacogdoches and I had only met them at orientation. I was really starting new. He knew no one at SFA really. So, we talked and all that stuff. He, I realized shortly, would be the most anti-social person ever. He wasn't too interested in school, he wasn't too interested in going out, he wasn't too interested in just about anything. But, he was nice. He was a guy that I could talk to if I needed to, and if I didn't want to talk we could watch tv and not say a word. This would be fine.

And I realized that I couldn't prepare myself for friendships and relationships with people I didn't know. I could not characterize people into one specific group. Because, after thinknig about it, I ended up fitting in to a, b, and d of my multiple choice test (and although I was definitely friends with some geeks in option c, I didnt come close to all As) but with major changes ... I liked hanging out with Nathan. He wouldn't exactly fit into my group of friends, but I wouldn't exactly fit into his (although he did go out with us if it was me and my friends Rhea and Alice and I would go out with him and his girlfriend Kim). And these facts were good. We could have our friends but still be cool roommates. He was there for me when I decided to pledge a fraternity. He was there for me when I had to call for him to come pick me up from a party. He was there for me when I decided I was going to get almost the exact opposite of straight As. All around, he was there. In Hall 14, Rm 325. 5 days a week (cause he went home on weekends). For me. When I needed someone that was not a part of whatever kind of drama I found myself in.

After my first year, my grades were less than good. So, I went to Summer Session II at SFA to bring up my GPA to above 2.0 (yes, it was well below that). I took one class and lived with the Sean and Tiffany, two of my pledge brothers and a couple. This was interesting, because all three of us managed to live in a one bedroom apartment. Oddly enough, it was a great summer, even though we were a bit cramped. My first college birthday was spent with them and it was the first time cops had ever been called to a party I was at. Although their relationship didn't last, and I don't really talk to them anymore (Sean at all, Tiffany every once in a while) they hold a very special place in my list of roommates. And I owe Sean alot, since he basically let me live rent-free.

My next roommate was quite cool. Lane was a theater freak (and I say freak with utmost respect, cause all of us are freaks about something ... we'll get to all of mine throughout this blog). As a theater major, the boy was never ever there. He had night cast calls, he had paint crew. He had all kinds of crap that one day will be useful to him on Broadway. He was a Raver too. And it gave me the perfect opportunity to talk about going to one. I had every intention of going to one, and finally there was to be one in Lufkin. And oddly, several of my friends in my circle were going. So, when he was in the room, we planned to meet each other there. I went to a party that night before the rave and told my friends that were going that I would meet them there with other friends. What a good thing I didnt go. Somehow, it got found out and Lufkin police were outside waiting for people to show up and check for drugs (not that I would worry about that). No one even made it inside the warehouse. Lane was cool for planning things I would never do.

Continued in "Confessions from a monkey of all sorts (Part 2)"