Growing up, I never knew anyone with the same name as me.
My name is not so unique — not one of those names you hear that sticks out. But in my little bubble growing up in Pleasant Hill, California, I lived my life as the only Amanda for the longest time.
Arriving at college — amidst dozens of other changes — this changed too.
I walked into my DeBell suite hearing voices of parents and girls hectically talking about where to place each box and decoration. As I entered my room, I saw her standing there: the first other Amanda I had ever encountered in my life.
Naturally, our dads would make jokes about us going by “Amanda 1” and “Amanda 2.” At a certain point, we wondered if this would be true, when we realized our names were more similar than we thought.
My name is Amanda Monahan and my roommate’s is Amanda Mola — just when you thought two Amandas was confusing, try adding in two Amanda M’s, and further than that, two Amanda Mo’s.
But, little did I know, meeting another Amanda was what I was yearning for my whole life — specifically, meeting Amanda Mola.
Everyone told me it was a bad idea to have a roommate with the same name. “It’s going to get confusing,” my parents and friends said, but I didn’t listen. Something in me knew all along it was the greatest decision I could make.
Sometimes, when we are walking to the Caf, we will run into our friends who will greet us by saying, “Hi Amandas!” Other times, one of us will meet a friend the other hasn’t met before, to which they respond each time without fail, “Wait… two Amandas?”
Some of my most prominent memories of our shared name is ordering after one another at coffee shops. Whether it was the Starbucks worker saying “OK?” with a questioning voice after taking two orders for two Amandas in a row, or the time we got our coffees back that said “Amanda caramel” and “Amanda vanilla,” there is always a new memory attached to our names with each outing we take together.
Having a roommate with the same name might be a nightmare for some, but I am proud to say that it has given me nothing but funny stories and a reason to confuse people. The Amanda Mo’s of DeBell will forever take on the world together, whether it is as “Amanda vanilla” and “Amanda caramel,” “Amanda 1” and “Amanda 2” or simply just as “the Amandas.”
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Contact Amanda Monahan via email: amanda.monahan@pepperdine.edu
