Jane Mercer of Memphis, Tennessee, had never met another Jane her age before. That changed when she arrived at her dorm for the Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute.
“When I went up to my room, on the door was Jane from Memphis—me—and Jane from South Korea, my roommate,” Mercer said.
Pairing roommates with the same name is a long-standing tradition, said head instructor Dr. Mary Lou Song.
Mercer said the “name twin” surprise calmed her first-day nerves.
The first few hours after check-in involved trips to Target for miscellaneous items forgotten at home and meeting fellow cherubs.
After they said their tearful goodbyes to their parents, cherubs gathered in Fisk Hall for an informational session. There, Professor Roger Boye announced their first assignment, due in two hours: the roommate assignment.
“I thought we were going to do some bonding that night, like icebreakers,” said Sara Ortiz, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, who also shares a name with her roommate, Sarah Schwartz of Newton, Massachusetts. “I did not expect they were going to put us to work so quickly.”
Sarah Schwartz said, “Interviewing Sara for the assignment was really interesting because we saw a lot of crossovers but also places where our lives are pretty different.”
After rushing to complete the roommate story, the cherubs walked back to Jones Hall where they sang “Happy Birthday” to Grace Lu of Weston, Connecticut.
“Although the first night was somewhat intimidating, I am grateful for the roommate story because it was an easy way to bond with my roommate very fast,” said Chloe Eng of Manhasset, New York.
