Day 91.

Letter to my roommate--one of Stanford's mini-essays

Hi Roomie!
So there's really only four things you need to know about me:
1) I talk in my sleep. But hey, free entertainment.
2) I'm scared of the dark and spiders. If you're scared by the light and an absence of spiders then Stanford has done a great job of matching us and we'll make a great team. If not, I'm sure we can muddle through. I have a tried and true strategy for dealing with fear involving a combination of high-kick running (fight AND flight!) and Walt Whitman's barbaric yawp.
3) I am probably three to four times as messy as anyone else you know. It sneaks up on me: one moment my room is clean, floorboards visible and shining, and the next my desk is a mountain and the floor is treacherously hiding under books, papers, and clothes. But messiness is not the life-consuming problem many make it out to be. I still have friends. I function fairly normally. I just can't always find things. However, this has turned out for the better in several ways. When I lost my keys, I became well-versed in the art of breaking into my own house, effectively testing its security (the bathroom window was the weak spot.) My friends stopped expecting me to dress normally the day I couldn't find pants and came to school in a t-shirt, shorts, and magenta kneesocks, so that's one thing I don't worry about. And I've become good at memorizing things, like my 14 digit library card number, so I always have them when I need them.
4) Hopefully I can make up for 1-3 with my baking. Baking is how I communicate. A batch of cookies can say "I was being a jerk," or "What happened sucks, do you want to talk about it?" or "I heard you were hungry," or simply, "I am glad that we are roommates."
I hope you like baked goods. And adventures/exploring.
--Your Roomie
Emily Rose Clarke