As told by Ron Wallace ’82

Friend: Henry Herman Thomas ’82

We lived on the 10th floor of Morrison the first year they tried out co-ed floors from August 1978-May 1979. We were roommates and both first-year students.

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

The friendship we not only developed with each other but others that lived on our floor. We became like a big family living together. We still laugh about things that happened that year (e.g., his accidentally unplugging my alarm clock causing me to be late for registration for my first classes). We were complete opposites, yet we became very good friends.

At the end of the year, we had a talk and decided that the best way to preserve our friendship was to not room together moving forward. It was probably the most adult decision two 19-year-old guys could make … and we were right. Our friendship has remained strong.

Wallace (left) and Thomas (right) in their room in Morrison, in which Wallace strung up a hammock. “It was very popular for everyone to try out,” he said.

How have you kept in touch?

It is funny and at the same time mystifying how we have come in and out of each other’s lives numerous times. We would go several years without talking and somehow fate threw us back together over and over. I honestly can not explain how we managed to stay in touch, especially back in the years before social media and the internet, but we did. I recently moved to Wilmington and Henry lives in Carolina Beach. We now get together once a week for lunch just to chat about life and everything going on in our lives.

Wallace (bottom right) with two friends from his floor, Vincent (bottom left) and Lisa (top). “It represents some of the things we did to have a really good time,” Wallace said.

As told by Rebecca Moloney, 2015-16 Irish exchange student

Friend: Camilla Baines

Back in 2015, I left University College Dublin for one of the best decisions of my life: a year studying abroad at UNC-Chapel Hill.

What I didn’t know then was that I wasn’t just going to Chapel Hill to study history and art history or to catch some live lacrosse (which I was very excited about as a player on the Ireland national team). I was actually on my way to meet my best friend for life, Camilla from Sussex in the United Kingdom.

We both were in our second year of university, wide-eyed and very much not ready for how early Americans eat dinner. I was living on Stadium Drive in Parker, and Camilla had a single room. We met on our very first day at the international student orientation and decided to go to the clubs and societies fair together that evening. We bonded fast over shared culture, confusion over iced tea not being actual tea and a mutual desire to see as much of America as possible.

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

The snowstorm that shut down campus. For me, an Irish girl, seeing snow stick was life-changing. Camilla, Steph (another international student) and I had a full snowball fight, built a very wobbly snowman and warmed up with hot chocolate in the dining hall. My toes never recovered, but it was worth it.

The sports! I had never seen anything like the energy at a UNC-Duke game and the joy when we beat Duke and just started running through the campus. There was something electric about being surrounded by people who were so proud of their school, and we still watch the UNC-Duke matchups now!

Moloney and Baines have remained great friends a decade following their year at Carolina as exchange students living in Parker.

How have you kept in touch?

Our final night we had dinner at Top of the Hill. We talked about how much we’d miss each other and the little things that made campus life so special. But three days after I got home to Dublin, Camilla showed up on my doorstep. She flew over to see me. And she’s been showing up ever since.

Two years ago, I got married in Portugal. As I looked around the breakfast table that morning, there was Camilla and Steph, and we all laughed because it felt like we were back at Carolina again.

Baines (right) was maid of honor in Moloney’s wedding.

As told by Chloe Wang ’10

Friend: Kristi McNair ’10

We were randomly assigned as roommates, living on the ninth floor of Hinton James.

We hit it off right away and have been friends since! When we would meet other students during those first weeks, people always assumed we were old friends. But we were just getting to know each other and making new friends just like everyone else!

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

We survived Hinton James with no air conditioning!

One time I woke up around 3 a.m. to Kristi in a panic and packing up her laptop and backpack. I asked her what was going on, and she said she was late for her final exam, which was 4 p.m. that day. I said it’s 3 in the morning, it’s dark outside and asked her if she felt like she slept for 14 hours straight. To this day, we laugh about this moment.

Nearly 20 years after meeting, Wang and McNair remain best friends.

How have you kept in touch?

We’ve been best friends since 2006 and are still going strong. She was my maid of honor in my wedding! She lives in New York City, working for YouTube, and I live in Tampa, Florida, as a physician. We have separate and busy lives, but we text almost daily and make time for calls every other week. We also see each other in person several times a year and try to take trips together. We went to London and Paris on our last trip together and can’t wait to see where else is next!

McNair (left) and Wang in London.

As told by Makayla Adelman ’25

Friends: Chiara Sabato, Sarah McElroy and Heather Diehl (each 2025 graduates)

We first lived in Koury, sophomore year we lived in Teague and then junior and senior years we lived in an off-campus house.

I met Chiara on a Class of 2025 Facebook housing group for incoming students. Sarah (my suitemate) and I have known each other since we were in kindergarten, and Sarah met Heather on an Instagram Class of 2025 roommate page. I knew we would all be best friends once we were hanging out in the dorms and staying up too late talking about some of the craziest and funniest things! We were always able to just share anything with each other.

(Left to right) Diehl, Sabato, Adelman and McElroy returned to Koury to take a photo right before graduating this past May.

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friends?

We would celebrate everyone’s birthdays in the dorms by buying a cookie cake and decorating it ourselves. Also, during one of our first weeks together, we all got to-go boxes from Chase and walked up to the Cobb parking deck and had dinner on top of the deck while the sun set. That was one of our first memories together!

We all had so much fun during a snow day our first year when we were all able to go outside and play in the snow. We went on a mission because we were so determined to get hot chocolate so we could drink it in the cold weather. Once we got it, we were all just laughing so much because of how silly it was to go all that way for hot chocolate, but it was so much fun to do it all together!

How have you kept in touch?

Usually if I’m driving home from work, I’ll call one of them. We have a lot of new media and TV shows, like “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” that we all watch separately but text and talk about. We also have some trips planned for the future since we are now all over the country.

As told by Candace Howze ’15

Friend: LaTeesha Christian ’15

I met Teesha at orientation in June 2011. We were paired together at check-in and stayed in the same room at Winston Residence Hall. We were in different groups but shared a few meals together and hung out. I left her a note when I checked out, and once we were both on campus for fall semester we met up. Honestly, the rest is history.

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

Teesha and I never lived together. She stayed in Ram Village most of undergrad, and I was always in the dorms. But I was often referred to as the fifth roommate in the apartment because I stayed over there so often!

The year of the big snowstorm, class was canceled, and Teesha and I went to Walgreens to get food and the bus broke down. We had to walk all the way back to south campus in the snow!

Christian (left) and Howze (right) in front of South Building on Polk Place.

How have you kept in touch?

Teesha and Ja’Mese Ward ’15, whom I lived with junior year in Hardin, are literally my best friends in the world, and I trust them with pretty much anything. We have a “TJC” group chat and text or FaceTime often when we aren’t able to be in person. I can’t imagine my Carolina experience without them, and I can’t imagine my life after Carolina or my future without them in it.

(Left to right) Christian, Ward and Howze.

As told by Prasidha Padmanabhan ’27

Friend: Shritha Gayathri ’27

In 2023 Shritha and I met on campus briefly after orientation. We had the funniest introduction. Her mom stopped my mom on the steps of UNC Student Stores after orientation because she recognized her. It turns out they had gone to school together back in India. The coincidence of it made me sure our friendship was fated. From that moment, we instantly clicked!

But our whole friend group had the privilege of meeting by living in the same flat in Scotland through Carolina Global Launch. Since coming back to Carolina, Shritha and I have lived together in Joyner as roommates with our friends close by and will continue to live in Joyner this year!

Padmanabhan (left) and Gayathri (center) first lived together while studying at the University of Stirling in Scotland as part of Carolina Global Launch. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

Once in our dorm room, a large ant managed to crawl onto the wall near my desk. Despite being fine with bugs, I started to scream. My roommate also lost it, and both of us began to panic over the smallest of insects. Given the fact that we were screaming over an ant, we were also laughing really hard.

Another favorite memory is doing blind karaoke together in the lounge with my roommate and our friend group. Belting our hearts out and often confidently singing the wrong lyrics have been a core memory the last two years and have given me memories I’ll cherish forever. Hanging out with my friend group — whether sitting on the quad, relaxing in our dorm or shopping in a foreign supermarket in Scotland — has been one of the most rewarding parts of going to Carolina. I found my second family here.

Padmanabhan and Gayathri with friends around campus.

As told by Ryan Parsaee ’28

Friend: Jonas Laukoter ’28

We became roommates last year, living in Cobb. Jonas and I met over the internet and at orientation before becoming roommates. I understood very quickly we would be close friends. We made our first friends at Carolina together during Weeks of Welcome and are part of a bigger friend group as well.

(Left to right) Parsaee and Laukoter with their friends Kendall and Jasmine.

What are some of your favorite dorm and Carolina memories with your friend?

My favorite dorm memory with Jonas was swapping our sides of the room for April Fools’ Day without him knowing.

How have you kept in touch?

We’ve kept in touch by calling each other weekly during our summer break to catch up. Jonas is traveling and backpacking throughout Europe and participating in a residency in France, and I’m conducting microbiome cancer research at Carolina with a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. We became such close friends it would only make sense to continue keeping in touch.

Parsaee (far left) and Laukoter (third from left) with their friends Sabrina (second from left) and Jasmine (far right).