"Thank goodness for little girls...for without them what would little boys do?"

(left-right)Em, Amy, Jen, Jaime, Anna, and me.

I arrived at Vista Way naive to the world, excited to explore outside of my comfort zone and extremely anxious about what the imminent future would hold. There were six people that I shared many of my "first time away from home" experiences with. We were randomly assigned roommates, but in the months spent together in cramped quarters we grew to be more like one big dysfunctional family. It is a wonder that the whole lot of us didn't end up hating each other. I am not saying that it was easy by any means, but as things winded down, I think that most of us were able to reach a common ground and carry great memories of times spent together.
Here are just a brief collection of some of my fondest memories from a summer that I will never forget...





Anna (aka. The Future Mrs. Rossdale)
Anna and I ended up sharing a bedroom in Florida and so... much more! If she won't tell anyone about what happened after our multitude of drunken escapades, then I won't tell... Really, I did NOT try to jump into bed with her after that Castle Tavern night! Anna was a wild child with an extremely artistic and explosive personality. Her vivaciousness (really, really BIG word for me to use) and her spontaniety were so contagious. I will always cherish the memories of Anna and I scouting out those international parties. I still laugh at the situations that only WE could end up in: stumbling across the parking lot, frolicking in the sprinklers, full moons galore, looking for the perfect shrubbery to cop more than just a "squat" and those wonderful Castle Tavern nights. Dearest Anna, here are some words to remember me by: STEVE!!!!, Jerome, Irish boy, la cerveza mas fiiiiiina, Baja Beach club boy, the "Scottish" dude, Mr. Ed, and GAVIN!

Update! Alas, Anna and I parted ways in the spring of 1998. Partly because of my hormone and alcohol induced bit%hitude. The last that I heard about her was that she had graduated from Bowling Green University in Ohio and had moved onto have more fun in O-town. Wherever the chick is, I hope that someday we meet again and that she can forgive me for being such a self-centered twat.

(left-right) Jaime, Emma, Anna, and me

Emma (aka. The Scottish Slapper)
Oh my goodness! How can I even begin to describe Em? She was straightforward and brutally honest. There was a gal that was free in a way that I can't even begin to describe. She was an interesting combination of independence,strenght and femininity. If you are confused by my explaination, feel comforted that you are not alone. The line of Em's admirers were in quite the same state of admiration and confusion throughout the summer of 1997. She was a bit younger than me, but totally had experienced A LOT more than some people twice my age. She and the rest of the roomies kept me in check and never let me dive too far into the deep side. I am definitely missing my cantankerous little "Scottish Girl" and I when I watch Toy Story and see those little green martians, I think only of her. "The Claw is my master...I have been chosen...OOOOOOOOOH!".

Update! I also lost touch with Em in 2003. She graduated from the University and moved to Washington, D.C. from London. The last I spoke with her, Emma had settled into her career and into a stable love life with one of her closest male friends from the UK.

Jaime (aka. Miss Sunshine)

Considering that I was a total NC State University backer and Jamie was a UNC-Chapel Hill sorority gal, I am totally surprised that we got along so well. During our time as roommates, I grew to respect and admire Jamie's beauty, poise and beautiful singing voice. I found her to be extremely trustworthy, honest and considerate. For a large part of the summer, she had a very busy work schedule and she was ill with allergies. Yet, when she did have a chance to go out with us, we all had such a blast. I will always remember her laughter at the Grad Ball and her generosity with rushing me to work that one day that I missed the shuttle, for the billionth time. As we were packing our suitcases at the end of our internship, she informed us that she ad decided to continue her internship with Walt Disney World through the fall semester as a "face character". It was her dream come true.

Update!With the passing of time Jaime and I lost touch. The last I heard from her, she had permanently relocated to Orlando in 1999 and completed her studies at UCF.




Jen (aka. Miss. ESPN)

I think that Jen and I had a hard time bonding at first. I don't know if she would agree with that or not. She worked odd hours at the Magic Kingdom. About the time that I was coming home from The Studios, she was heading off to work. By the time that I was done partying in the wee morning hours, she was making her way, exhausted and worn-out from dealing with guests, to our apartment. In fact, we hardly ever saw her around the apartment, until the last month of work. Due to her long hours in Fantasyland, she would always leave pesky post-it notes around the apartment. Of course, when the party gals were on a roll, we disregarded the mess that we made. There were many times when our apartment looked worse than a pig sty. Poor, Jen. She usually came in to catch the aftermath of all of our mini house parties. Yet, at the end of our stay in Florida, I think that we all grabbed onto the opportunity to party together and I am glad that we did. Jen is a lot of fun. I have two very important words to relay to Jen...."NO UNDERWEAR"!!

Update!I heard from Jen a couple of times following our time in Orlando. Since that point, I am certain that she graduated to bigger and better things. She would be proud that I now follow sports and no longer chuckle about her ESPN watching days. I am jealous that she understood it so well from the get go.



Christen (aka. The "OTHER" roommate)

Time has managed to cover most of the bitterness that I had for Christen during our stay at Vista Way. I could not find a photograph of her anywhere in my WDWCP collection. Christen was always busy, with work or juggling boys. We hardly got to see her because she was always off doing her own thing. She was a fashionista, who was extremely social. She really wasn't a horrible person, in retrospect, we just didn't spend a lot of time with her.

Update! No word from this former roommate, but it really isn't surprising seeing that we really did treat her so poorly. I apologize for the venom that we spat in her direction, but we were all immature were not so hot at conflict management.

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© November 3, 1997 by 'Romi.
Updated 30 June 2005.
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