The Roommate Date
Here at BYU so much focus is placed on dating and marriage, but what about before that? Right now, single students have to live with roommates and as President Uchtdorf said to the Relief Society sisters last year “Forget not to be happy NOW.” Instead of waiting to be happy until we fit the BYU mold of getting married, stop stressing overly about going on date-dates and make some time for roommate dates to be happy now. College is not only a great time to start looking for a spouse, but it is a time when you will make life-long friendships.
Talk to your roommates and find things you all have in common. Make a list of things you want to do together and then DO them. As roommates in my apartment, we decided that we like to eat out together so we have hit up Thai Village, Sammy’s Café, The Chocolate, and Awful Waffle. It’s a time to treat ourselves and catch up on each others lives while checking out all the good restaurants in town. Checking items off the list will make lasting memories and also build friendships that go beyond the list. After we started our roommate dates we have become a lot closer, which has lead to trips to the farmer’s market by the football stadium, writing each other nice notes, emailing each other funny videos, playing pranks on each other, making dinner for each other, baking cookies together, doing each other’s dishes, throwing parties, and more.
Junior year for me has been the best so far, because I have focused on making my apartment my home instead of waiting to have a home one day. My roommates and I have become a pseudo family because we make time for each other and care about each other like sisters. We dance around our apartment in our pajamas like fools when we’re happy and listen to each other with open arms when one of us is sad. We laugh together, scream together, and cry together. The point is we are happy now, because we love each other and thus we love our lives.