OP-ED: I Was Lulled to Sleep by My Upstair Neighbor’s Stroke Game Last Night. Do better, lil Bro.

After a long day of SABSing, trying to read 5 pages, and going to office hours to feel like I did something, I finally tucked myself into bed. My diffuser was on. My blinds were let down one-quarter to block the morning sun. I did my skincare routine for the first time this semester. I even took a #phat dose of Benadryl. Everything was in place for me to fall asleep deeply and immediately.  

But I couldn’t. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, trying to contemplate if there was anything I had forgotten, anything else I could possibly do to make myself sleep. Then, gift wrapped in serendipity, the answer came to me from you: my upstairs neighbor, my vertical roommate. 

You started with one rock, and then another. Slowly but surely, you took the training wheels off, and your confidence grew. You built momentum and I was proud of you. Then you faltered, but every time you fell, you got up again. My room shook along with you, and I felt a kinship I’d never known. 

But that’s all I can say. Why? Because I fell asleep. I got bored. To put it into terms you might resonate with, I was unsatisfied. And that means she probably was, too. Just because we shared such an intimate night, I feel like it’s my duty to do this one solid for you and offer some advice: do better, lil bro.