If you were to look at Mae and Alana’s social media interaction, you may not realize that they were even that close. (In fact, Alana only connected with Mae over LinkedIn within the past two weeks.)
However, ever since first year, the pair has been asked if they a) live together, b) went to high school together, or c) were roommates in first year. This impression may be due to the fact that nearly all waking hours are spent in each other’s company.
The two first met in first year, first semester through rowing. At first, Alana only knew Mae as the voice that yelled things at her at 5 am, while Mae only knew her as the tall, red-haired “5 seat” in the boat.
Alana’s first impression of Mae was during their first morning at rowing, sitting in a circle in the morning surrounded by all of the other 6-ft rowers, when she didn’t realize what the position of ‘coxswain’ was (the smaller/lighter person who sits in the boat and steers/gives commands) and just thought Mae was “an absolute legend.” (For context, Mae is far from 6-ft.)
Their friendship truly blossomed during fall exam season in first year. Alana knew she had a lot to learn for the upcoming exam season and had seen Mae sitting in the fireside room. Having heard that she was a smartie, Alana approached her for help. What she didn’t know was that their connection would be near instantaneous... Alana, not wanting to freak her out, would leave for designated intervals, coming back down every couple hours with a newly formulated question. After a couple of hours of these interactions, the jokes began to flow and they didn’t stop. They bonded over weird French Youtube videos and their incredibly off-colour sense of humor. Hours of studying, snack sharing, crazy dancing and morning wake-up calls followed (Mae would coordinate wake-up times so they get breakfast together). Eventually, they were so in-sync that they would accidentally sleep-in for the exact same amount of time.
The friendship was cemented. Through the countless hours spent together they discovered that they shared a love of the same quirky songs (Elle Me Dit – by Mika & Parlez-Vous Francais by Art & Science) and niche book series (anything about the Tudors by Philippa Gregory). Almost every day, they discovered more similarities that they shared. These coincidences were made even more ironic as they are physically incredibly dissimilar. Mae is petite, standing at 5’0, with brown eyes and brown hair…while Alana is a 6’0 tall, ginger with blue eyes. After going to many regattas and studying together a few times, the two became incredibly close.
Along with what must now be hundreds of hours spent studying during countless exam seasons, the pair can often be found drinking green tea with milk, sitting in the booths outside of Stauffer, making extremely off-colour jokes and an unhealthy amount of eye-contact. No topic is too far for this duo.
Mae and Alana’s relationship goes beyond normal in a few ways. A good example of this is the “Alana SOS” group chat that Mae started with her housemates in order to find her for the sake of reminding her about deadlines and handing in assignments (even when they in no way affect Mae). There was also a time during second year when they had each other’s student numbers memorized. This year, Mae also helped inspire Alana’s course schedule (resisting the urge to ensure she had enrolled in all of her courses, due to a minor incident last summer when Alana forgot to sign up for a single third year course…).
One fond memory the pair shares was on Alana’s 20th birthday. Mae had coordinated a birthday celebration and gift with Alana’s father (a ring to replace one she had lost). Mae videoed the entire event so her father could see it and got down on one knee while giving Alana the ring. A night of laughter and good drinks followed. The pair also enjoys family dinners with friends and housemates, as well as going for drinks at the Alibi.
Although a tad co-dependant, the two balance each other out and keep each other sane. Both Mae and Alana agree that their undergraduate experiences would not have been the same without having met each other (along with the rest of their group of friends, of course!).
- Love, Human Crossing