Kailee and I were assigned to be roommates. We would be living in a two bedroom apartment with two of our teammates. There would be two girls to each bedroom so naturally Kailee and I decided to share a room. I honestly believe that it was a blessing to have Kailee as a roommate my first semester of college. She was my friend before we shared a room and was aware of my sleeping disorders. Although I don't think Kailee was fully prepared for the craziness, she took it all in stride. There were many nights were I would wake up yelling and Kailee would calm me down. Instead of resenting me for it, (I think) Kailee was always positive and understanding. She even dealt with my weird habit of sleeping half naked. (I was going through a topless phase. Sorry Kailee) Of course I could always hold over her head that she snored rather loudly and she was lucky that I could sleep through the noise.
That first semester I think I experienced some kind of "episode" almost every night. Unfortunately I was living in an environment where I was experiencing many triggers. I was in a new apartment, I was stressed about school and soccer, I didn't have a good sleep pattern, I traveled a lot for away games, etc. It was the most fun I had ever had, but it was also the most change I had ever experienced in my life. There were times when I wished I could be a normal eighteen year old girl who didn't have sleeping disorders. Hearing about what I had done in my sleep from Kailee could be really funny, but sometimes it was really embarrassing.
Of all the embarrassing episodes I had during my two years in Iowa, (and there were many) there's one that still makes me cringe to this day:
I wake from my sleep. This isn't out of the ordinary. I'm still trying to get used to my new room. It's super dark in here. I wish I could sleep with a nightlight like I did back home, but it would be rude because Kailee sleeps in here too. She's asleep on her bed right now. She's not snoring like she usually does. Something feels weird. I sit up and scan the room. That's when I see a dark face looking in the window. O MY GOSH IT'S A PEEPING TOM. There is a random man watching me sleep!
I've got to get out of here! I start screaming and scramble out of bed. I make a mad dash down the hallway and head for the front door. I'm panicking so hard right now. I can't stop screaming! I fumble with the lock and rip open the front door! Wait.... this doesn't look right. Why am I staring at my neighbors door? Oh... I'm standing in the doorway of my apartment. I have one foot placed on the cold cement and another back in my apartment. A horrible reality smacks me in the face.
I can't believe what I've just done. This is one of my worst nightmares. No wait, the peeping tom was one of my worst nightmares. Ok I've got it! It's like I've just woken up from a nightmare and realized I'm still in a nightmare. Only I can't wake up from this nightmare. I'm fully awake and have to deal with the fact that I just ran screaming like a psycho through my apartment. I slowly close the door and hope that if I'm real quiet, no one will wake up. I turn around. Crap, too late. My roommate Kelsey is staring at me with a concerned look on her face. This is awkward..... How do I explain this?
"Are you okay?" she asks.
"Yes. Bad dream," is what I try to say. I'm sure it came out sounding more like, "yuh, bea dram". (I tend to speak gibberish during my episodes)
"Oh well you really scared me," replies Kelsey.
I don't remember if I responded to her after that. I just kind of stumbled back to my bedroom and climbed back in bed. Of course I had to face my roommates in the morning and try to explain what caused me to have a "freak out". Luckily they were pretty forgiving. They did manage however to tell our whole soccer team about my episode. I don't blame them for that one. I deserved it.
So what does happen when an extreme dreamer goes to college? Imaginary Peeping Tom's happen. And it's not pretty.
I actually loved reading this! My name is Shelby and I am Rebecca's (Becca sounds better) roommate second semester of college. Her and Kailee were the other two in the bedroom down the hall from Kelsey and I. We were obviously on the same soccer team which was the first thing that brought us together. We found out from getting to know each other that we had a lot in common. We had the best laughs I can every remember having in my life. We became best friends and were basically not seen without the other one during that second semester. We decided after getting close the first semester of college and that my Kelsey was movnig out that it would be perfect for us to move into the same room! I can honestly say that I did not even think about the sleeping freak outs she had, I was just excited to become roommates. We spent a lot of nights up late talking and all that random stuff best friends do. I do remember a couple times at the beginning that she would wake up and scream and honestly scare the crap out of me. I am a VERY light sleeper and would wake up to any talking/mumbling she would do. After the nights starting to multiply that I was waking up and not being able to sleep after being so scared and my heart beating so fast from Becca scarying me so bad, I decided to get ear plugs to wear at night. I can honestly say that was the best idea I ever had when living with her. I do not remember waking up from her after that and if I did see her get up, I kind of just let myself fall back asleep because I knew she would wake back up and come back to bed. I do miss the conversations we did have about the thigns that happened in our dreams and I know that no matter what I had to tell her went on in my dream that hers always topped. I am proud to say that I experienced an extreme dreamer and to call her my best friend!
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