'It can teach you a lot': UNC students find friendship through random roommates

Prior to coming to UNC last year, Zach Maready found himself on the verge of a crucial decision.

After hoping to room with someone from his high school, Maready’s plans fell through at the last minute. With just three or four days until the roommate assignment deadline, he decided to take the plunge and accept a random roommate.

His roommate, Dylan Lee, who he was matched with through a quiz at an orientation program for the North Carolina Study Center, became a close friend. 

Maready and Lee lived in a room on the third floor of Craige Residence Hall during their first year. As the semester unfolded, Maready and Lee shared not only a room, but also various experiences that strengthened their bond.

Lee is a jazz piano major and his concerts have become a highlight of their relationship. 

“I always go to as many concerts as I can with a few of our other friends, which is always really cool,” Maready said. 

Maready and Lee regularly share meals, get ice cream, watch movies and attend club activities and service projects together. 

Lee said he and Maready are very different in their pursuits at UNC. Maready is a political science and journalism major, whereas Lee is interested in music and math. Despite their academic differences, Lee enjoys the richness of their conversations.

“We still have a lot of interesting things to talk about,” Lee said. "We're both intellectually oriented, and he does like visual arts, so he is artistic. There's a lot of ways that we're able to connect that way."

Maready said he and Lee will continue to room together next year in Ram Village Apartments. 

Current junior Kasual Marley and her first-year roommate, Jada Boyer, haveshared a similar journey — from strangers to friends. 

According to Marley, she and Boyer came from very different backgrounds. While Marley is an in-state student, Boyer is from Ohio. 

Early on, Marley said she and Boyer recognized the importance of establishing boundaries in their shared space and engaged in open conversations about preferences, lifestyles and dislikes. This intentional communication laid the foundation for mutual respect and their inevitable friendship, she said.  

Rushing Franklin Street after the UNC basketball win over Duke in March of 2022 was a defining moment of her friendship with Boyer, she said. 

“It was an amazing experience, especially being a freshman and hearing all of the Carolina traditions, so I think that was a really special moment for us,” Marley said. 

Sophomore Amanda Abreu and her roommate Lyse Ingabire are both transfer students. She said they were able to understand each other because of their shared experiences.

"We kind of understood the experience of being new to campus all over again, or just being older but still exploring things on campus, so we were able to do that together," Abreu said.

For sophomore Gaochia Amandy Lee, small talks in her room have been important for strengthening the bond with her roommate. 

She said acknowledging different social preferences and understanding each other’s comfort zones are crucial in creating a harmonious relationship. 

“You don't have to do every single thing with them together, because I know sometimes that's an added pressure that some roommate pairs might feel and that can make the situation tense,” Amandy Lee said. 

Maready said he thinks incoming first-years shouldn't be afraid of a random housing assignment. 

"A lot of times growing up, we stay around people who are like us, and coming to college — especially going the random route — you’re going to meet people who think and work differently than you," he said. "And that can be a really enriching thing. It can teach you a lot about other people." 

@graceogao

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com