Blowing balloons when the other is sad, having nightly The Vampire Diaries watch parties and jumping in the rain are just a few of Weinberg freshmen Isabella Polanco and Lucy Wolter’s favorite memories from their first quarter as roommates.

Polanco and Wolter met through Instagram this past April. Despite only knowing each other for a short time, the two have become close friends, Polanco said. 

“There are days when we don’t (see each other) and then it’s really sad, and we’ll be like, ‘I miss you,’” Polanco said. 

Polanco said they’re in the same friend group, and their walk to class on Fridays often ends with calling out, “miss you already.” Their friendship has also allowed them to experience new things together, like playing in the snow outside the library, Polanco said.

While some roommates from the Class of 2028, like Polanco and Wolter, have only known each other for a few months, others have been close for years. Weinberg freshmen Patrick Schaller and Landon Lauter met in elementary school when they were teammates on feeder basketball and baseball teams, Schaller said.

The two, who remained teammates throughout high school, now play together on Northwestern’s football team.

“It’s cool that we’re able to play college together (since) we’ve been playing sports our whole life,” Schaller said. “Right now, it’s not like we’re going up against each other, playing against each other. That’ll be a really cool thing when we get older — we (will) actually play against each other in practice.”

Schaller also mentioned that both of them study economics and share three out of four classes this quarter. Being in the same classes allows them to study together and randomly quiz each other, especially in Spanish, Schaller said.

Communication freshman Sayuki Layne met both her roommates online. She reached out to Medill freshman and Daily staffer Trois Ono over Instagram, using a mutual friend to start the conversation.

They were looking for a third roommate when Layne found McCormick and Communication freshman Rosie Jansens. When Layne’s voice teacher moved to work at an art school in Santa Fe, she continued to take lessons online. Her teacher mentioned one of her students, Jansens, and Layne looked her up on Instagram. They started talking and eventually decided to share a room.

“It’s so interesting because we’re all very different in terms of personality, but it works,” Layne said. “We all have similar (preferences), like, ‘Oh, this is how we like to keep it clean.’”

The triple has weekly parties, often on Wednesdays, to eat snacks and “just try to get through the middle of the week,” Layne said.

Roommate debriefs, laughs and shared jars of peanut butter tend to fill the other days.

“Every day, we get closer,” Layne said. “So then every day, it gets more fun. Every day becomes ‘Oh, yesterday was such a special day.’ But then it’s the day after, and it’s like, ‘Yesterday was such a special day.’”

Email: [email protected] 

Email: [email protected] 

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