Pateno 1
Eloise Pateno
Professor Ryan Sarehkani
English 060
02 March 2017
I Learned It by Heart
It was an especially dreadful Monday morning of my first exam week in college and I was awakened by a banging and clattering noise coming from the opposite side of the room. It was my roommate I had been living with in the dorm and, with one eye I manage d to open, I could see her pacing back and forth, opening and slamming drawers as if she was trying to look for something of tremendous importance. Even though I was already barely conscious from such little sleep, my mind was still debating whether or not this was reality or probably just a dream. It was like something that I had already seen somewhere in my past. When I finally chose to get up and see what was going on, I felt a strange but familiar irritation and concern towards the situation. I thought she would need some serious help and I knew exactly what I needed to do.
With both of my legs still snuggling under my warm blanket, I sat upright against the headboard and reached for my phone to grasp a sense of time. It was too early to get up for my first class and I thought maybe I could use some more sleep but the opportunity of getting more sleep had already passed and was no use for someone who is a shallow sleeper like me. I continued to observe her for another five minutes and I could hear her murmuring in frustration and at one point I heard her saying, “Where is that damn thing?!” She was not yelling but it was loud enough to fully awaken me and make me realize exactly what the chaos was all about. “This girl is a mess,” I whispered in my head. Her name is Rona, a petite, brown-skinned, young lady who has a very bright and out-going personality. It was also her first year in college and first time living away from her family. We were both majoring in Nursing at that time and we were taking almost the same classes for the past four months. Although it seemed like we had grown closer to each other, the way we were used to managing our stuff and schedules were way different back then. I knew how to organize my things well enough that I rarely lose any of my stuff because most of the time, I knew where my things were placed. Her things, on the other hand, were just all over the place which was why I was not surprised that she was having this same struggle all over again.
Having yawned a number of times, I decided to announce my presence, and with a cracking voice I uttered a sarcastic,“Good morning!” Of course, she did not notice me as it was too obvious that she was totally out of her senses. She carried on with taking all the stuff from her purse, one by one and then thoroughly searched the purse inside and out. By now, all I could see were piles of papers, books that she unloaded from the shelves and drawers, clothes which I figured were dirty since I noticed her laundry basket was upside down on the floor, and a bunch of random stuff scattered all over. She was fac...
