While standing atop a trash bin trying to break into my own house, I realize I have been in this position many times before. Without fail, every week or so, I lose my keys and have to perform this highly difficult stunt in order to get into my house. In the beginning the ritual of climbing through windows was annoying and seemed to be a hassle, but in retrospect, being locked out has led to many friendships and adventures. But most importantly, it was where I met my shadow.

Everyone has a shadow. That person who has class in the same buildings as you and at the same times as you. Your shadow most likely lives near you and takes all your routes to class, shortcuts included, and has your favorite study spots, because they are your shadow’s shortcuts and study spots too. (Note: Your shadow is not to be confused with a stalker, who is just following you without the excuse of a similar schedule.)

The standard “What the hell are you doing?” questions I get when trying to pry open my living room window from the outside have sparked many interesting conversations, but none were as memorable as that fateful day when I turned around to my shadow, standing there waiting for my response. After explaining how my keys seem to elude me fairly often, my shadow began to walk away before abruptly stopping and turning around.

“Don’t I see you, like, everywhere?” my shadow said. I told her that yes, in fact, I see her everywhere. With what seemed to be such similar lives, that was all we had to say to each other and we went our separate ways, her to class, me, through the window.

The next morning while running to class, I saw my shadow across the street, a few feet behind jogging to get to class on time as well.

Instead of looking at each other awkwardly like we always had, we laughed and waved knowing we were both one another’s shadow.

After class we walked our route and took our shortcuts together, talking about how long we had gone without meeting one another and how weird it was that I was standing on a trash can the other day.

Soon, my shadow became my friend and we encouraged all of our friends who had shadows of their own to introduce themselves to one another. It turned out a lot of people had very cool shadows and many of them have become roommates, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends. I now have a whole shadow posse.

I have been keeping my eyes open this semester in hopes of discovering my next shadow. I will probably not find one for a while, since in the beginning of the semester everyone is still refining their routes and discovering their shortcuts, but I am hoping to be lucky enough to have another shadow. I know one lucky lad who has almost an entire baseball team’s worth of shadows turned friends. However, there are still people out there who can go a whole semester, sometimes even a year without meeting their shadow. I would encourage anyone with a shadow to make an effort to meet his or her scheduling counterpart, whether you stand on a trashcan or just walk up and introduce yourself. They are not, I am sure, your shadow for nothing.

Joanna Salmen ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and Spanish.