When Mariam Amin and Lina Reslan stepped onto Memorial’s St. John’s campus in the fall of 2021, neither knew that a simple card game would be the start of a friendship that would define their entire university experience.

And on May 28, the pair will take the stage together at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre during spring convocation ceremonies, dressed in caps and gowns to celebrate not just academic achievement, but the life-changing friendship that carried them through.

Friendship forged in residence

Ms. Amin, born in Egypt and raised in Morocco from Grade 9 onward, arrived in St. John’s for her first year and moved into Doyle House in Paton College.

She lived in the First Year Experience wing of the Living Learning Community, where she quickly became involved in campus life as the Doyle House council’s charity representative.

Ms. Reslan, born and raised in Saudi Arabia, also arrived at Memorial that fall and moved into Burke House.

She became vice-president of the Burke House council and, like Ms. Amin, was eager to make connections in a new city and country.

They met during RezEx, an annual orientation event for residence students, while playing cards outside in Hunter Square. The game, Go Fish, sparked an instant connection.

“She was the first person I went to with my ups and downs.” — Lina Reslan

Upon first meeting, Ms. Reslan said her first thought was: “You’re shy and I’m shy, let’s be shy together.”

COVID-19 restrictions at the time limited access to buildings other than your own, but Ms. Amin became such a regular in Burke House that staff and students assumed she lived there.

It wasn’t until someone saw her wearing a Doyle House t-shirt that her true residence was discovered.

The confusion led to laughter and a lasting bond. The mix-up only strengthened the duo’s reputation as an inseparable pair.

As they both navigated their first year in St. John’s, exploring the city and campus together, their friendship deepened.

Supportive and connected environment

In their second year, they moved into Cluett Hall and continued to grow as leaders in residence life.

Ms. Reslan became a resident assistant, inspired by the support and programming she experienced firsthand.

Ms. Amin, who served as social chair in Cluett before becoming a residence assistant herself in her third and fourth year, also thrived in the supportive, connected environment.

When living on the same floor, they were never far apart from each other, but when they were apart, they could each tell when the other was on the way to their room by the sound of her footsteps.

When asked why they chose to live in residence for their entire degrees, they responded in perfect unison: “It was safer, more convenient for classes and labs, and there was always community and something to do.”

When asked to share their favourite memory, they answered the same again: meeting each other in their first week.

“Everything else came from that moment,” they said.

Academically, both students originally pursued different paths.

Ms. Amin pursued a bachelor of science in computer science program, but discovered her passion lay elsewhere, eventually switching to a biochemistry major with a minor in business.

Ms. Reslan began in general sciences but found her way to the same degree combination: a biochemistry major and a business minor.

The women’s parallel academic journeys further deepened their bond, providing shared experiences in labs, lectures and long nights of studying.

“With Mariam, I had a fun friend who was also my academic friend, she was the first person I went to with my ups and downs and we celebrated together and cried together,” said Ms. Reslan.

Now, after four years of living on campus, through late-night study sessions, residence programming and the shared experience of leading their peers, the new alumnae are preparing for their next chapter.

They’ve just moved into an apartment off-campus together as they begin to focus on their careers.

Ms. Amin hopes to go into pharmacology and Ms. Reslan hopes to find a position in pharmaceutical sales.

Though residence life is behind them, their bond remains as strong as ever.

“We started here as two shy girls, and now four years later we’ve formed a bond that also gives each of us confidence and we’ve come to realize we are actually not that shy anymore,” said Ms. Amin. “We’re actually more extroverted than we ever thought.”

Looking back on their time at residence, it was more than just a place to live.

It was where they found family.