“I am here for my B.A., not my M-R-S degree,” I commented when I was told that I am going to a university that has well earned its nickname as Northwest Bridal College. During my first week in the college, I heard all kinds of comments from returning students. The comments range from the Ring by Spring Policy that states, “Ring by spring or your money back,” to little jokes like, “In Northwest, they don’t date. They get married.” Some of the students would observe that a few activities they do in the college encourage the whole bridal school idea; take Roomies for one. Roomies is a biannual event that gets guys to ask girls out on a date and vice versa. Originally, the roommate is supposed to ask a member of the opposite sex out for his or her roommate, hence the name Roomies. Now, only a few still abide by the tradition. Most will directly ask the person he or she wants to go out with. I had the chance to ask a respected member of the student body whom he’s going to Roomies with this fall. He answered that he’s not asking anyone out to Roomies, and this response got me to think about the whole meaning behind Roomies. I came to the conclusion that Roomies is supposed to be something more than a matchmaking event: it is supposed to be an event where people have fun, where they get to know more people in the student community, and where they have a chance to make other people feel special.
To begin with, Roomies is supposed to be an event where people have fun, away from the stress and pressure of studying. College is not easy. If people don’t have fun once in a while, they will burn out like a car running out of gas. That is why activities like floor dinners, football games, and Roomies are like gas stations along the way, refilling students' tank with energy and motivation to get them safely to their destinations. One doesn't have to have a date to have fun. If students did not get asked to Roomies, or they don’t feel comfortable going out with someone they don’t really know, that should not prevent them from having fun. The awkwardness and “the scarceness of words exchanged” with someone you’re not comfortable with is definitely not fun. The 400 Cadets went out together as a floor for Roomies, and had a blast! The point is to do something students enjoy doing, taking their mind off of work for a while.
Roomies is supposed to be a medium in which people could get to know more people in the student community. There are 1,281 students in this university, and no one knows every single person. Roomies is a chance where people can get to know others they might not usually spend time with. Tannen states that “women and men often have . . . different ways of speaking,” but that should not limit us from getting to know more people, different people (Tannen 390). Students might find people that have gone through the same things they are going through, and others that are going through the things they went through. Through events like this, we can find people who will take our hand and walk the journey with us, one small step at a time.
Finally, Roomies is supposed to be an opportunity to make other people feel special. Putting into consideration the two to one ratio of female to male students, and the assumption that a guy will only ask one girl out for roomies, half of the girls in Northwest will not have a Roomies date. Sadly, there has been, and there will be, a lot of girls who will go through their entire college experience without having been asked to Roomies, while others are “blissfully ignorant” of what these people might feel (Mitford 306). Northwest University might seem like a bridal college, but more importantly, it is a Christian college. One of our main tasks as Christians is to show love to everyone and make them feel welcomed. It is not a crime to ask more than one girl to Roomies. It’s even a good idea to do that if you do not want to give them the wrong impression. Asking someone out to Roomies does not say that you are romantically interested in that person. Instead, it means that you are saying, “I’m glad that you’re here. I just want you to know that you’re special.”
A week before Roomies weekend, I was out with a few girls and we met two guys from Northwest. They already had Roomies dates, and we all thought that they were joking when they told us that we should all go to Roomies with them. They were serious. So all four girls went with them on Friday evening, without knowing where we are going. I told a few of my other friends that we were going with these two guys for Roomies, and they told me not to go, because one of the guys is supposedly a jerk. We went anyways. They brought us to a park in Redmond; they brought all kinds of snacks and McDonalds food and brought a picnic blanket. They gave us all roses; It was very sweet of them. We found out that they are not jerks, and that they are really fun to hang out with. My first Roomies experience was truly memorable. First, it was memorable because I had a lot of fun that day. It was also memorable because I got to know two guys and find out that they are really nice guys, not jerks. Finally, it was memorable because I felt that those two guys took the time to hang out with me and make me feel special. I realized that Roomies possess the potential to touch other people’s lives and let them see themselves the way God sees them: special.
