Cammy Watkins ’02
My original roommate and I were not working out, so I needed to find a new roommate and fast. It was Block 4 and Allison Chenoweth ’02 and I had met as music minors and were in Intro to Psychology together. We were only casual friends, but I thought she seemed nice. Thankfully when I asked her if she wanted to be roommates she agreed, though I am sure if we asked her today she would say she was hesitant to give up the freedom of having her own double room! Allison and I ended up being roommates all four years.
Allison is one of my best friends. We talk at least once a month (more if we find the free time) to gossip about the Cornell Report, what our fellow Cornellians are up to, and what is going on in our lives. We generally find time to get together during Homecoming and spend much of our time with our other Delphi sisters. When we are together it is as if we never missed a beat.
At Cornell we did just about everything together, from Delphis to Pandemonium. We spent so much time together and had so many similar interests that our Delphi sisters nicknamed us the Olsen Twins! While we are miles apart now, we still have a great connection.
Allison grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa, and I in Omaha, Nebraska. I learned about farming from Allison and she learned about Black girl hair care from me! Allison is a piano teacher living in Cedar Rapids and I work for Habitat for Humanity in Omaha. It is crazy to think that two people who seemingly are so different can have so much in common.
Whenever I hear a funny story or see something that reminds me of our days at Cornell I text her. In fact, I recently sent her a funny birthday card. She texted me immediately after receiving it and we laughed about how spot on it was!
We joke about how when we get older and retire we are going to buy houses next to each other and yell at kids to “get off our lawn” and gossip all day … and really if that were to happen I couldn’t ask for a better neighbor than my best friend and old roomie! I’m so glad that I met her and that we shared so many wonderful experiences at Cornell.
Cammy Watkins ’02 is a Family Services Manager at Habitat for Humanity of Omaha.
