The OC is Still Good Ten Years Later and Did You Know We Met on Tumblr? Or Why I Love my Roommate

I can't believe this chapter of my adventures in DC is officially over! This summer was filled with so many great new experiences and new people, I will never forget it. This summer also brought me my first official roommate. Sure, I had suitemates before, and most of them were totally awesome, and are some of my closest friends today, but I had never had a roommate of my very own, so I didn't quite know what to expect.

Naturally, I checked out her Facebook, and I wasn't really sure if we had a lot in common, or if we would be friends, but I hoped everything would work out. 11 weeks later, I can assure you everything worked out, and I was wrong, we are definitely friends! From OC Marathons to serious conversations about disability, Maddy was a major part of my summer, and has definitely become a major part of my life.

Maddy is the reason that this blog exists in the first place. She encouraged me to be open with sharing my experiences as a disabled young woman. Maddy taught me words like, "brain fog" and "spoons" that allowed me to talk about things I had never quite been able to explain. We talked about disability and ableism all the time and it was super awesome to live with someone who understood my life experiences. It was great to have somebody to talk to about the frustrations of paternalistic behavior, Metro breakdowns, and a system that is set up to make being disabled more difficult.

Maddy always had confidence in me and encouraged me to try new things (like starting this blog, and hopefully soon a Youtube channel). She always knew how to make me smile, even as it was by making jokes about awkward experiences I've had in the past. Our relationship was super open so we seemed to avoid the general roommate drama, which meant we just got to be awesome!

I love Maddy because she wasn't afraid to call me out when I was being ridiculous, like the time I tried to go to work, even though I was in way too much pain. I love Maddy because she played a huge role in my increased acceptance of my disability that came out of this summer. I love Maddy because around her I just got to be awesome, and not have to worry about being some tragic or overly "inspiring" figure. I love her because I didn't have to explain disability every time it came up. I could talk about pain, or fears, or frustrations without having to justify them. I love that we could just hang out and watch the OC. We even got to go to the White House together!

It was super great to live with somebody who's passionate about the same things that I'm passionate about. It was awesome to have long conversations about the importance of intersectionality in the disability rights movement, and realize that somebody else really understood. It was awesome to have her validate my emotions when I would experience ableism like somebody touching me on the street. Our relationship helped me understand that accessibility is more than just ramps and elevators, and it helped me really see the importance of solidarity. Getting to talk about disability and other social justice issues all the time was so awesome because it grew my passion, and showed me all the different ways in which these issues can be understood.

Through our friendship I better understood and accepted my own disability. Maddy was always willing to talk it out with me, and remind me when I was super cripping, something I often needed. She helped me believe in the validity of my stories in the importance of my experiences. Maddy convinced me it that I had a story worth telling, and that I actually could tell it. She, along with many other people helped me find my awesomeness, and she was always first in line to remind me when I forgot it was there.

We were so similar, even though we had very different experiences. This is awesome because it meant that we could talk about anything, and we did. One of my favorite moments was when we realized that we met on tumblr several months before we became roommates because she responded to my senior research request. I may not about the friends at first, but now I can't imagine not knowing. She showed me so many cool things like awesome disability pride jewelry.

Maddy was the best roommate I could've asked for. She made my experiences in DC 10,000 times better. I'm going to miss her, but I'm glad I met her, and I'm never going to forget her!

Image Description: Two white women in their early 20s smile at the camera. They are in an apartment and are each wearing green dresses, dark cardigans, and round, silver necklaces.