A Decade as Roommates
Jonathan Shaffer ’17 and Brendan Lynch ’17 met at BC orientation and decided to room together. Little did they know they’d still be living under the same roof for the next ten years.
Friendships can have a funny way of becoming foregone conclusions. You spend a certain number of hours in each other’s company, and things just sort of fall into place. Or at least this is what happened for Jonathan Shaffer ’17 and Brendan Lynch ’17, more or less.
Introduced during their 2013 summer orientation session before their first semester at Boston College, they got along well enough to request to live together in a Fitzpatrick Hall quad. “From there,” says Jonathan, “the rest is history.”
Through some combination of happenstance, friendship, and convenience, they spent the next decade living together in seven (7!!) different places—four at BC, three post-grad in NYC. From Fitzpatrick, they moved to Walsh Hall, then a 12-person, off-campus house for junior year, before finishing their time at the Heights in Rubenstein Hall.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” jokes Brendan. That isn’t to say they’re not great friends; of course they are. But for Jonathan and Brendan, rooming together was hardly ever a question through their college and early post-grad years.
“It was just a natural fit. We were both academically driven, competitive, drawn to sports, similar TV and movies, literary interests, and geopolitics. And we both like living in a clean, organized place,” says Jonathan. “The more we got to know each other, the more we realized the Venn diagram of our personalities and interests was practically a circle.”
Both studying finance, Jonathan and Brendan were set on moving to New York after graduating. “I still remember the diner where we ate before checking out our first apartment in the city,” says Jonathan.
“Murray Hill, right?” says Brendan.
“That’s gotta be my least favorite place we lived,” laughs Jonathan. “It was so tiny!”
From there, they moved into nicer digs in Flat Iron and then SoHo, getting to know each other’s friends and making visits back to BC for games at Alumni Stadium and reunions.
Sadly, last fall saw their streak come to an end: Jonathan and Brendan are no longer roommates, ending one of the more wholesome stories you’ll find in the annals of college roommate-dom. No longer broke 20-somethings, they decided it was past time to live on their own. Their friendship remains as deep as ever (and they’re just a 15-minute walk away from each other).
“At this point, we’ve known each other so well for so long,” says Brendan, “any kind of life situation—be it work-related, personal, whatever—it’s so easy to talk to Jonathan about it, whether seeking advice or just someone to talk to.”
“Knowing I have someone in Brendan whom I’ve always trusted and can talk to and lean on—and who’s also incredibly fun—has been so important over the years,” says Jonathan. “I always look forward to hanging out with him.”
Got your own roommate story you’d like to share? Submit a class note or reach out to @bcalumni on social media!
