Best friends college bound together

Alumnus Kenny Song, now a freshman attending UC Berkeley, remembers the day he received his acceptance letter. Thrilled, he posted the news on Facebook, expecting variations of “congrats” and “good luck in college” in response.

However, he was surprised to find one comment left on his status: “I got in too.” He quickly scrolled up to see who had left the message. It was his best friend, Darren Sun.

College with friends from your hometown would seem fun, but what about rooming with your best friend from high school? Is it pure bliss or a total disaster?

“Rooming with your best friend is a lot different than what most people think; it’s not a constant party,” Sun said.

Sun explains the situation: “Imagine you have a sleepover with your best friend. Pretty cool right? Now imagine that for a whole 365 days.” What started off as fun and games quickly turns into annoyance at one another, Song said.

Synthia Ling and Anna Shen, freshman roommates attending UCLA, echo Song and Sun’s sentiments.

“It’s nice to live with a friend from high school because I got to come to college already having one close friend, but the bad part is that sometimes, you get annoyed with them,” Ling said.

For each pair of roommates, the trouble has been adapting to their counterpart’s living styles. Song is more laid back and “lets his side of the room get dirty.” Sun, on the other hand, prefers to have the whole room clean.

“It’s sometimes really difficult living with Kenny because of how different we are. I need the room to be clean while he’s more relaxed about it,” Sun said.

Dorm problems aside, Song and Sun spend plenty of time hanging out outside of their dorm.

“As soon as we leave the dorms, we are back to normal again, but as soon as we step back in, we argue about the room,” Song said.

This year, the two have helped each other in school. While both are MCB (molecular cell biology) majors, Song, an English expert, tutors Sun for that subject and Sun returns the favor.

Because the two knew each other prior to going to Berkeley, it helped ease the transition into college life.

Ling and Shen entered college knowing that they would have one less new friend to make and that the transition into dorm life would be less stressful because of the familiar face.

“The best part about living with your friend is that there is no awkward phase of meeting your roommate for the first time,” Ling said.