Show me my roommate already!!! Oh and the Mt. Vernon business

So as the fall semester of 2008 approaches, many of us (including myself) have been very anxious to see who the "magical" roommate selector has, well, selected. Everywhere I turned, people I befriended had requests for others, and it seemed like everyone around me already knew who would be staying with them in the fall. For the rest of us, don't fear, we only have a week and a day to wait until we soon find our other half...roommate(s) that is. I have heard nothing but positive feedback about the system, and even if you don't feel like you instantly connect with the person sleeping 3 feet away from you this fall, understand that you can't always speed up the relationships you make, especially those you have to live with your freshman year in college. Although it's not really too great when you are a roommate to your best friend. I made a lot of friends, and some close friends during CI (check out my previous post entitled "The CI Experience"), but I think we might only spend the night or live near each other...I have had way too many witnesses tell me not to room with a friend so, go figure, I might take their advice, at least this year. After finding out that I had received my first (or third) selection for housing, it seems as though I won't really have that problem.

For all those that aren't quite clear what I meant in the previous sentence (or the title. haha) I had selected Somers and Cole as my 1st and 3rd choice, respectively. I received the infamous Mount Vernon letter and began to have a bittersweet feeling about the choice I had made. I love Mount Vernon a lot, from the beautiful campus, dorms, library, and even football field. However, it seems as though my friends weren't too fond of staying there, mainly because it was far away from classes, and it was supposedly too quiet. I'm a very outgoing person, so hearing that the place that I'm staying for 9 months is completely unlike me isn't quite the first thing I wanted to hear about it. There's nothing wrong with the place, so I still plan on staying there, but others want to leave before they even move in. Is this because of society's influence on them, that they want to continue going the direction they did in high school, or listen to the people they might've known for a few months? Or is it their own personal dislike for the lush green of the Quad's grass? I guess I am biased with my own personal history of watching others fall into the influence of others, but it bothers me that people would actually want to give up an opportunity to live in such a beautiful place! I selected those halls not only because of the aesthetics but of the fact that its somewhere to take a deep breath when needed. The college life your freshman year can be stressful, and since the next 3 years, I'm probably staying at Foggy Bottom, I think having somewhere to clear my mind would be perfect for the first year. I could type forever about this, but if you're like me, you probably can't read forever. So to sum it all up:

What are your feelings about roommates and the selection process? Anyone staying at Mount Vernon? Comments about the campus?

Have an awesome rest of the summer and I'll see you in the fall! (47 days until official move in? 41 for SEAS kids and 40 for PE. haha man that shows you how bored I AM this summer. hah)

Noel B.