Top sheet 5/7

Happy late birthday to this wonderful human! They are a future stage crew member and camp counselor. She is also a spectacular human who I am so glad to have met this past year. But the question we have all been waiting for… does she use a top sheet?

She does not. They talk about top sheets always wanting to end up on the floor, and not caring much about sheets as they seem annoying and useless, and the comforter is comfortable enough on its own. She also does not use a duvet cover, and has not washed her comforter since getting to school. It isn’t that bad, they promised me. 

When asked what word they were thinking of, the answer was cactus. She talked about her mom’s old cactus that she had for 30 years while she lived in Brooklyn, and then when she and her family moved a couple of years ago, she sold and got rid of the cactus. She was very upset about it, but kept a clipping of it in her room. The cactus was old and rickety, and would fall on people sometimes, in which case their mom had to catch it with her bare hands. She wants a cactus, and if she had one, she would name it Barry (not Berry). 

They talk about being really into math right now, and loving calculus this semester. Next year, she is taking multivariable calculus, which she is excited for. They have always really liked math, as they like solving problems and how straightforward math is, as opposed to English which is really difficult for her. Over the summer, she is excited to be working with children. After three months, working with kids can get old, but it’s so exciting to return, especially since she already knows some of the returning kids. “Kids grow so fast, and they’re going to be so big!”

They say that their friends have sort of changed their opinion on whether they want to have kids. It would have been strong no a few months ago, but now she sort of wants kids. She doesn't want to bring kids into the world though, so she wants to adopt. She doesn't want to have the moral dilemma of “why would I bring kids into this world?” Dealing with pregnancy also seems like something they don't want to do. 

She talks about enjoying Portland and being somewhere new, as someone from the east coast. There is a lot to do in Portland, and so much to explore over the weekends. “Everyone here is crazy- crazy cool, crazy weird, and they’re all amazing about it.” She went to the Japanese Gardens a while ago, which is one of the most touristy places in Portland, but was beautiful. They also really love the Northwest area of Portland, where there’s good food, nice neighborhoods, and thrift stores that are fun to wander. The culture back home felt a lot more conservative, especially just in the way people dress and act in one very specific way. 

We then saw someone running up the stairs, and talked about how funny it is seeing people running places on campus. They asked why anyone would run to class instead of just strolling and being a couple of minutes late. “There are people here that just run places, even if they’re not late, and they are crazy for that. I’m not here to judge, just to giggle.”

They talk about the process of meeting new people, and how it felt really forced at first. She says she still has trouble making friends outside of roommates, as it is really hard to be social, and to avoid awkward interactions. She talks about wanting to be charming and funny the first time she meets people as a constant, but this almost happens. They talk about being okay at making friends and meeting new people when one other person they know is around, but she has never really had to make friends alone because growing up, her sisters and her all made friends together. 

Being a triplet was formative for her, but also made it more difficult for her to talk to people, as she could always just talk to her sisters. Whenever they were in a new environment together, they would just talk to one another, or make a friend who was friends with all three of them. They also feel like they are bad at talking to adults, because in settings with a lot of adults, she would just talk to her sisters. “I guess we’re technically adults, but no.”

I told her she was great at making friends with my dad when he visited school. “It was easy to be pals with him, he just felt like one of the guys.”

They say that in high school, all they wanted was to fit in. Freshman year, they didn’t have many genuine friends and were worried nobody liked them. But the people who came into her life sophomore year were caring people who she’s still friends with, while most friendships that were rushed were temporary. She would’ve liked her high school self to know that it’s okay to wait to meet genuine people, and that her people are just around the corner. “You don’t have to make friends with people who just aren’t great or cute.”

As far as regrets, she says that sometimes, she wonders if it would have been wiser to go to school closer to where she is from. However, Portland ended up being a great place to live with a lot to do, so this is only a partial regret, because there was no way she could have stayed in her hometown for college. They don’t have many regrets, because they usually feel like they’re in the right when making decisions. 

She says she is glad she decided to live in the visual and performing arts wing of the dorm building, since she is now friends with so many artsy people. Otherwise, she may have abandoned any artistic endeavor, if not surrounded by creativity. They say they are more likely to keep up with artistic endeavors when surrounded by artistic people, instead of just pursuing something for a few weeks and then quitting. “I love theater people, too. But sometimes, I would like them to stop singing Wicked immediately.”

When asked if she had anything to rant about, she said that there was a guy in her calculus class who is the loudest mouth breather she has ever encountered. She asks that he please seek medical help or get some breathe right strips because his issues are concerning, and it is driving her insane. “It sounds like he is gearing up to stab me.”

Now, they are thinking about horses, saying that they do not like horse racing, horse girls, equestrians, or anything that has to do with horses. But, the horse itself is okay.

“Goodbye world!”

-B