Dear Future Roommate,

I hope you like colors. I currently have 106 wall decorations hanging in my room. I have a few more I’d like to put up, but I’m running low on wall space. They range from old Mylar balloons to newspaper articles I find interesting to photos to drawings my friends and I made. I love colors and anything bright, but more than anything, I’m sentimental. I love looking at my walls and remembering the family vacation to Alaska, the time my dad brought me balloons when I was sick, or when I used to be friends with Becca. Seeing where I’ve been and where I am helps me realize how I got here, how some friendships are strengthened after others are broken, and how some things will never change, like traditions we keep during Thanksgiving.

Now don’t worry, I’m not going to take over the room with my decorations. I’m not going to bring my dresser top with the note and drawings in Sharpie. But I hope you’ll understand if I don’t seem entirely thrilled to be away from home at first. Change can be difficult for me, but looking at my walls helps me view change as a process instead of a leap into the unknown. I can see the changes I’ve been through without even realizing I was going through them, and doing this makes me realize if I’ve done it once, I can do it again. And if all these people in the stories on my walls really mean as much to me as I think they do, I won’t lose them when I go to school.

So if you don’t understand why I miss my home and my room so much, please, be patient. I’ll get over it. I’ll be understanding towards you, too. And don’t think this means I’m not excited to be at school. I’ll have a great experience and I’m looking forward to college. And I’m willing to compromise on decorations