to my other half, kandi fox!

 

Kandice Fox…where do I begin. When I decided to attend East Carolina University, I had to make the choice of whether or not to live in a dorm or in an apartment. Everyone said that it was the best experience to live on campus your freshman year, so that is what I did. I decided to do the random roommate selection. I was nervous, but so excited to see who I was going to be paired with!

Right before my family and I were about to go on my senior trip to Busch Gardens, I got the email with my roommate and dorm information. It said I was going to be living in 117 Garrett Hall with Kandice Fox. I immediately looked her up on face book and her name popped up as “Kandi Fox.” All summer when I would talk about my future roommate, I would call her Kandi. She and I discussed what colors we were going to be using and shared some vague information with each other but didn’t really get to know each other on a personal level.

 

August rolls around and it’s time for MOVE IN DAY! Kandice arrived first, so when we walked in the room, we all introduced ourselves. As we began haul everything in the room, my mom kept saying, “Now Kandi..” and would start a conversation like that. I overheard her sister call her by “Kandice” so I kept trying to secretly tell my mom to call her Kandice not Kandi...but she did not get the hint.  (This has been an ongoing joke since then.)

 

It did not take long for Kandice and I to gain a close relationship. Not only did we share a tiny room, we also shared the same major in school. All of our classes were the same so we got to spend a lot of time together. One of the first nights we were in Greenville, we decided to go downtown. All the girls in Garrett Dorm started to get ready and we are about to leave and I see Kandice is still wearing basketball shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I asked her why she wasn’t going, and she told me she was and that she was ready to go. Well, let’s just say I did an intervention with her and dolled her up a bit. When we got downtown, I learn that Kandice is only 17. This is a slight problem because you have to be 18 to get into the clubs. As we walked nervously up to the doorman, she just pulls out her student onecard to use as her ID. We were all terrified he was going to tell her no for not being of age, but no. He told her no because she was showing “too much skin.” She had put on a belly shirt instead of her tshirt and those types of shirts are not allowed in the clubs.  Guess you could say I intervened too much.

 

Anywho, as the year went on, Kandice and I became best friends. Everything that we did that year, we did together. We learned early on that we were kind of the same person. We both love everyone we encounter with all of our heart, which in turn means that our feelings are easily hurt. We both like to hold in our emotions until we just can’t take it anymore. We have this weird connection where we can tell if something is on the others mind or if we just want to cry. Put on a sad movie and we’ll both be in tears, but put on a scary movie and we’ll both scream at the screen like it’s a live person. We are both kind of shy at first, but give us time to warm up to you and you’ll see our true side. We both love to dance and think we’re really gangster, but let’s get real…we’re both “typical white girls” in that department. 

 

I feel like God put Kandice and I together our freshman year for a reason. We have helped each other grow in many different ways throughout our college career. I am so truly grateful that God placed Kandice in my life. She is such a woman of God and I continue to watch her grow in her faith every day. She is the toughest girl I know and such a wonderful role model to me. She has always called me her big sister, but I look up to her so much. It is so hard to believe that we are in our senior year of college. I feel like just yesterday we were sneaking her into the clubs because she wasn’t old enough to get in, and today she turns 21!

 I am so humbled and honored to have gained such a friendship while in school. Kandice is one of my bridesmaids and I am so excited that she will be standing up there with me on my special day. Kandice and Devin have always shared a “brother-sister” kind of relationship which means so much to me. I couldn’t imagine how my life would be right now if it wasn’t for her.

 

Kandice, you have truly made a mark in my life and will forever hold such a special place in my heart. I cherish our friendship more than you’ll ever know. I love you sis.

 

-light skin